"And scoring a patent for summoning monsters and having them fight on your behalf, known as the "397 patent," was an essential victory in Nintendo's battle against "Pokémon with guns" survival game Palworld. Patenting a game mechanic is nothing new, but this particular patent has been regarded by many as, well, absurd, and acquiring it hasn't exactly been the victory the Pokémon Company seems to have been hoping for in its quest to deal Palworld an irreversible loss."
"Joining the chorus of folks saying "this is silly" is Trump nominee John A. Squires, director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (h/t IGN). Squires has highlighted two older patent applications from Konami and Nintendo as "prior art" that might invalidate Nintendo's claim to owning the concept this particular patent focuses on. As a result, Squires has ordered the merits of the controversial 397 Patent to be reconsidered."
"Some, such as Games Fray's Florian Mueller, are describing this move by Squires as a major loss for the company. As Mueller notes, Squires has not ordered the patent to be yanked. Reexamination orders, according to Mueller, "can result in a patent being upheld." But this specific Pokemon case seems unlikely to be one of those situations. Nintendo has two months to respond to the reexamination, and in that time other companies are free to challenge the merits of the patent."
Nintendo obtained a patent (the 397 patent) covering summoning monsters to fight on a player's behalf and used it in legal action against Palworld. The patent has been widely criticized as covering an obvious game mechanic and prompted skepticism about its validity. USPTO director John A. Squires cited two older patent applications from Konami and Nintendo as prior art and ordered a reexamination of the 397 patent's merits. Reexamination can result in patents being upheld, but commentators view this development as a significant setback for Nintendo. Nintendo has two months to respond while other companies may challenge the patent.
Read at Kotaku
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]