Nintendo's Ongoing Pokemon Patent Lawsuit Takes Another Hit

"Nintendo attempted to patent the use of a "touch panel" to "use a capture item for capturing a field character disposed in the field," which essentially means any touch-screen game that has a Poké Ball-style capture device used to trap or release a "character owned by the player" so that they can perform "a battle with [a] field character." Again, this is just describing mechanics in the broadest terms possible in the hopes of getting a patent that could affect touch-screen games like the upcoming Palworld Mobile , coming to phones and tablets later this year."

"The Japan Patent Office denied the application on the grounds that it didn't include an "inventive step" or add any sort of new innovation beyond already common, established mechanics. Nintendo may amend the claim again after having already done so once back in February, but for now, it has been rejected."

"The continued efforts of Nintendo and The Pokémon Company to use patents protecting certain gameplay mechanics to block out competition like has taken another L , as the company has been denied a patent for Poké Ball-style capture-and-release mechanics on touchscreen devices like phones and tablets."

"The attempts by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo to undercut through patents have been an ongoing saga since 2024, when the company announced it was suing developer Pocketpair on the grounds of patent infringement following a months-long "investigation" launched shortly after the monster-taming survival game was released in January of 2024 . At the time, fans were primarily concerned about 's monsters seemingly ripping off the designs of multiple , but rather than focusing on this in its legal action, Nintendo instead decided to use patents as a way to try to get the upper hand."

Nintendo attempted to patent touchscreen gameplay mechanics involving a “touch panel” used to capture and release player-owned characters in a field, enabling battles with those characters. The claim was broad enough to potentially affect touch-screen games that use Poké Ball-style trapping and releasing mechanics, including mobile versions of other monster-taming titles. The Japan Patent Office denied the application because it lacked an “inventive step” and did not add new innovation beyond established, commonly used mechanics. Nintendo may amend the claim again after previously revising it once, but the current request was rejected. The move follows earlier patent-related legal efforts tied to competition in the monster-taming space.

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