Image via IMDB
© Pocketpair, Inc.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has rejected all claims of Nintendo’s Pokémon patent US12403397, involving the ability for players to summon a character to fight in battle.
GamesFray reported in September 2025 that the USPTO had granted the patent US12403397, regarding summoning a character to fight, to Nintendo “without any objection.” The USPTO Director John Squires, who started at the position last September, had ordered a reexamination into this patent last November after criticism. The USPTO rejected the patent based on “prior art” references, namely an older U.S. patent filed by Konami in 2002 and another filed by Nintendo in 2019.
The rejection is not final, and Nintendo can appeal.
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair at the Tokyo District Court in September 2024.
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are “seeking an injunction against the game and compensation for a portion of the damages incurred between the date of registration of the patents and the date of filing of this lawsuit.” Both companies are seeking 5 million yen (about US$32,700) plus late payment damages for compensation.
The first target patent, Patent No. 7545191, relates to aiming an object toward a character. In other words, it refers to aiming a Pokéball at a Pokémon to initiate combat. The second patent, Patent No. 7493117, involves catching a character, specifically creature, in a field setting. The third relevant patent is Patent No. 7528390, which centers on riding the creatures.
Pocketpair confirmed speculations that changes in the game with the release of Patch v0.3.11 in November 2024 and v0.5.5 were due to the ongoing litigation. In Patch v0.3.11, the ability to summon Pals by throwing Pal Spheres was removed, and changed into a static summon next to the player. Pocketpair expressed its disappointment with the adjustment, but it determined that the change was necessary, as the alternative would have “led to an even greater deterioration of the gameplay experience.” A patch in May 2025 changed gliding mechanics in Palworld. Gliding in the game is now perfomed using a glider that must be in a player’s inventory instead of with Pals.
Pocketpair stated last May that it was still involved in prolonged legal proceedings because of the patent infringement lawsuit. The company added that it continued to dispute the patent infringement claims and assert the invalidity of the patents in question. But with this, the company had to “make certain compromises in order to avoid disruptions to the development and distribution” of the Palworld game.
Pocketpair debuted its Palworld multiplayer survival game in January 2024 as a Steam Early Access game. The game reached 25 million users within a month of its release.
Pocketpair announced Palworld: Palfarm, a new “cozy farming life” spinoff game in September. The game will be available for PC via Steam in English, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain), Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean.
Source: IGN (Wesley Yin-Poole) via Hachima Kikō
