After suing Palworld developer Pocketpair over the alleged similarity of some gameplay mechanics between the game and the Pokémon franchise, Nintendo has enacted a strategy of patenting pretty much everything it can to bolster its case.
Now that strategy has received a blow from the US Patent Office, which rejected all claims of the previously granted (stirring quite some controversy) U.S. Patent No. 12,403,397, which involves summoning a subcharacter and letting it fight in one of two battle modes (automatic and under control by the player), as reported by Gamesfray.
The rejection is based on two different combinations of four pre-existing patents, which, according to the USPTO makes Nintendo’s claims invalid.
It’s worth noting that this kind of ex post facto rejection by the USPTO Director is extremely rare, and it caused no little surprise in the industry.
While this certainly deals a very visible blow to Nintendo’s strategy, it may not be a crippling blow, as the rejection is not final and the company from Kyoto still has the option to respond before a final decision is taken.
At the moment, it’s uncertain whether this decision will have any influence on the ongoing proceedings between Nintendo and Pocketpair in the Japanese courts. Nintendo is demanding rather insignificant monetary compensation, but the big issue for Pocketpair is that they’re also asking for an injunction against Palworld.
In the meantime, Pocketpair has already made some changes to Palworld in an attempt to dodge some of the tendrils of Nintendo’s strategy.
Besides that, the Japanese indie developer has not shown any sign of weakening its support for Palworld, which is scheduled to be fully released in its 1.0 version within this year for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
In the meantime, Nintendo fans are waiting for the next mainline Pokémon game, Pokémon Winds and Waves.
