Nintendo Denied Japanese Patent For Pokemon-Like Capturing Mechanic

In September, Nintendo was granted a US patent for “the fundamental gameplay mechanic of summoning a character and letting it fight another” within a video game. At the time, that was seen as an attempt to block any future Pokemon imitators like Palworld. Nintendo went out for another Pokemon-inspired patent in Japan, but the outcome wasn’t in its favor this time.

As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Nintendo filed a Japanese patent for a mechanic in a game that allows the player to throw an item that captures a character, like the Pokeballs in Pokemon. However, the application was denied because a third party submitted evidence from Ark, Craftopia, Monster Hunter 4 and more to prove that the mechanic isn’t limited to Pokemon games and that it already exists.

GamesFray first noticed the rejection, and added that it’s plausible that the third party was Pocketpair, the developer behind Palworld. While that would make sense, it’s conjecture for now. Pocketpair is still engaged in a legal battle with Nintendo over Palworld’s alleged infringement on Nintendo’s preexisting patents. That led Pocketpair to remove Pal Spheres and other features from Palworld that fell under the patents held by Nintendo.

In the aftermath of Nintendo’s American patent last month, Michael “Cromwelp” Douse, the publishing director of Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios, noted that, “These types of patents are too often used in bad faith.”

Nintendo still has the option to appeal the Japanese Patent Office’s ruling, but it’s currently unknown if the company plans to do so. The most-recent Pokemon game, Pokemon Legendz Z-A, was released earlier this month on Switch and Switch 2.