Initially, things seemed to be going well for Nintendo. At the beginning of October, the company obtained an American patent (No. 12,403,397) describing an automatic combat system similar to that of Pokémon Scarlet and Purple. The idea is that the player can send their creature to fight alone in the open world or trigger a classic confrontation depending on the situation.
What if Nintendo lost the game to Pocketpair?
Nothing revolutionary, then, but it is specific enough to attract the attention of fans and lawyers. Quickly, the specialized press wondered if Nintendo was not trying to lock game mechanics present in a number of titles. “ If an old game like StarCraft already did all that, the patent falls for anticipation or obviousness », explained researcher Charles Duan to The Verge. According to him, these systems are reminiscent of classic military schemes: “ A general who gives orders, soldiers who obey or act on their own “. Suffice to say that the idea of “auto-battle” is not new.
And now, in a twist, the director of the USPTO, John A. Squires, ordered a re-examination of the patent on November 3. In other words, we are putting everything back together. Pattern ? Two previous documents, including one filed in 2002 by Konami, already describe a similar system. The other… was filed by Nintendo in 2019. The Kyoto manufacturer is therefore biting its tail a little.
This type of intervention has not happened for more than ten years. If the main claims fall, the entire patent risks collapsing. And this is very bad news for the legal battle that Nintendo is leading in Japan against Pocketpair, the publisher of Palworldaccused of plagiarism.
This complaint, filed in Japan in the fall of 2024, targets several Nintendo Japanese patents related to the interaction mechanics of its games Pokémon : throw a ball to capture or summon a creature, or even ride on its back to explore the world. The manufacturer estimates that Palworld uses these principles without authorization in its gameplay, where the player can capture creatures – the famous “Pals” – using light orbs and make them fight, collect resources or even ride them.
Similarities that go far beyond simple visual or thematic inspiration, accuses Nintendo. For the moment, the American procedure does not cancel anything, but it weakens the global position of Nintendo, already criticized for its taste for questionable patents. If the fight continues against Pocketpair, this time, it may be Nintendo that risks the technical knockout.
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