- Primary Subject: Palworld and Nintendo Lawsuit
- Key Update: The USPTO has issued a non-final revocation of all 26 claims in Nintendo's "summon character and battle" patent due to existing "prior art" from Konami and Bandai Namco.
- Status: Confirmed (Non-final ruling)
- Last Verified: April 1, 2026
- Quick Answer: The USPTO revoked Nintendo's summoning patent, citing older patents as prior art; while a major victory for Palworld, Nintendo has two months to appeal.
It appears the Palworld vs Nintendo lawsuit is potentially a step closer to being resolved.
In November 2025, the US Patent Office ordered a re-examination of Nintendo's US patent, which covered the act of the player summoning another character and making them battle. The ruling of the re-examination has officially been revealed.
Curious about what this means for Nintendo and Palworld? Then keep on reading.
USPTO Revokes Nintendo's Patent on Summoning Characters and Having Them Battle
Back in September 2024, Nintendo was granted a US patent that covered calling on a character and having them battle another on the player's behalf. Nintendo had submitted 23 other patents, but only this one was approved.
However, in November, a call was made to re-examine the patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office director, John A. Squires. This is the first since 2012 that a USPTO director has officially ordered a patent re-examination.
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Now, it is being widely reported that the USPTO has decided to reject all claims in the patent, thus revoking it.
Though a game was not officially named in the patent, it's evident that it referenced Pokemon's mechanics of catching Pokemon, training them, and having them battle other Trainer's Pokemons.
When re-examining the patent, Squires heavily focused on this gameplay mechanic. It was revealed that several companies in Japan had patents for this mechanism, namely Yabe (2002) and Taura (2020).
Yabe was granted to Konami in 2002 and revolves around a sub-character fighting alongside the player. Yaura was granted to Nintendo in 2020, which also centers around a sub-character battling alongside the player.
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With two patents with the same function, the USPTO decided to reject them. Another two patents - Motokura (2022) from Nintendo and Shinomoto (2020) from Bandai Namco - were also rejected.
The USPTO states that 18 of the 26 claims in the new patent are invalid if Nintendo's Taura patent is paired with either its Motokura patent or Konami's Yabe patent. The "missing link" that renders the other eight claims invalid is provided by combining Bandai Namco's Shimomoto patent.
What Does This Mean For the Palworld and Nintendo Lawsuit?
Back in 2024, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair (the team behind Palworld) for copyright infringement. They claimed they plagiarized their main gameplay mechanic and sued them for infringement of patent rights.
However, with all of Nintendo's patents rejected by the USPTO, there's a chance that the lawsuit between the two video game companies will be dropped.
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This isn't definite, however. Nintendo has two months to appeal to the USPTO's rejection of the patent. If they are unable to make a decision, they can ask for an extension. If the USPTO doesn't agree with Nintendo's decision, they can file an appeal with the Federal Circuit.
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