The US Patent and Trademark Office has just confirmed that it's re-examining the recent patent granted to Nintendo that allows players to summon a character to fight alongside them. Nintendo was originally granted this patent (patent number 12,403,397) by the USPTO on September 2, though re-examination could potentially lead to the patent being revoked.
While Nintendo has a long history of being particularly litigious, more eyes are on the company's legal dealings than ever before due to the ongoing lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair. Back in September 2024, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company filed a joint lawsuit that alleged Pocketpair had violated three of Nintendo's patents, including ones related to riding captured creatures and using them to battle on the player's behalf.
The USPTO May Have Put an Obstacle In Front of Nintendo's Palworld Lawsuit
On November 4, Games Fray reported that US Patent and Trademark Office Director John A. Squires has "personally" ordered a re-examination of Nintendo's 12,403,397 patent that was originally granted back in September. The reason for this surprise re-examination is that Squires believes two prior patents may invalidate this most recent claim.
The first of these prior patents is one granted to Konami all the way back in 2002. This patent revolves around a player controlling multiple sub-characters (characters that appear alongside the player-character) at once, either via manual button inputs or automated inputs. The second patent Squires has cited is one Nintendo itself gained back in August 2020. This patent also relates to controlling a sub-character in either manual or automatic modes. More specifically, both of these patents relate to controlling sub-characters during combat.
Due to the similarity between these previously granted patents and the one granted to Nintendo in September (that it's currently using in its lawsuit against Pocketpair), Squires has issued an official re-examination to be carried out by the USPTO. Nintendo has two months to respond to this order, and while Games Fray notes that a re-examination doesn't necessarily mean that Nintendo's patent will be revoked, there's a high chance it could in this instance.
This is the second major obstacle Nintendo's Pocketpair lawsuit has encountered in recent weeks. In late October, the Japan Patent Office rejected Nintendo's application for a similar patent regarding creature capture and battle mechanics (application number 2024-031879), with the JPO examiner citing Monster Hunter, Ark, and Pokemon GO as prior titles that include mechanics similar to those Nintendo was looking to patent.
Source: Games Fray