Nintendo Faces Setback in Palworld Patent Case as Japanese Patent Office Rejects Key Application

Nintendo has encountered a significant legal hurdle in its ongoing efforts to protect its intellectual property related to the Pokémon franchise.

The Japanese Patent Office has officially rejected a patent application tied to Nintendo’s current legal battle against Pocketpair, the developer of the hit game Palworld.

This decision could have notable implications for Nintendo’s claims regarding monster-catching mechanics—a core gameplay element for both Pokémon and Palworld. The disputed patent, application no.

2024-031879, focused on the mechanics of throwing and aiming objects to catch a creature or begin a battle.

This is distinct from a similar U.S.

filing made by Nintendo in September 2025.

According to GameFray, the rejection was due to the application lacking an "inventive step"—a legal term indicating that the submission did not sufficiently innovate beyond what is already known in the field, as demonstrated by existing games.

The patent office cited prior art, including ARK: Survival Evolved, where players throw pod-like items and use a crosshair for aiming, and listed other examples like Craftopia, Monster Hunter 4, Pokémon GO, and the web-based game KanColle (Kantai Collection). In its Notification of Reasons for Refusal dated October 22, 2025, the Japanese Patent Office concluded that "the claimed inventions could have easily been made by individuals with common technical knowledge," reiterating that the mechanics outlined in Nintendo’s application were already established in existing titles and their documentation. While this rejection is not final—Nintendo retains the right to amend and resubmit the application—it is part of a larger family of patents central to the Palworld dispute.

These include JP7493117, which addresses character movement, collision, and interaction, as well as the act of throwing creatures to initiate battles, and JP7545191, covering aiming to catch or battle in virtual space.

GameFray underscores that challenges to one patent in a family can create doubts about the others, and court judges often take cues from decisions by patent examiners. Nintendo first initiated legal action against Pocketpair in September 2024, filing a patent infringement lawsuit that seeks both injunctive relief and damages, alleging that Palworld violated multiple patent rights tied to Pokémon’s gameplay systems.

Notably, since the lawsuit was filed, Pocketpair has altered Palworld’s creature-catching mechanics, with the developer publicly expressing disappointment over having to make those changes.

Despite ongoing legal challenges, Pocketpair has indicated continued interest in bringing Palworld to future Nintendo platforms, such as the anticipated Switch successor. The next steps for Nintendo involve deciding whether to modify and resubmit its patent application or shift legal tactics.

With the broader lawsuit still unresolved, the fate of these game mechanics and their potential impact on the monster-taming genre remain closely watched by both industry insiders and the gaming public alike.

As the case unfolds, its outcome could set a significant precedent for how gameplay innovation is protected and litigated on platforms like the Nintendo Switch and beyond.

Nintendo Palworld Pocketpair patent developer Japanese Patent Office The Pokémon Company Nintendo Switch ARK GameFray JP7493117 JP7545191 Craftopia Monster Hunter 4 Pokémon GO KanColle