For the past few months, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have been embroiled in legal proceedings against Palworld developer Pocketpair, alleging that the game infringed upon patented game mechanics such as riding monsters and throwing balls to capture them.

Now, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have obtained a powerful new tool to wield against Palworld, as well as any other similar game they believe is infringing on their property. As reported by Gamesfray, the US Patent Office has awarded Nintendo and The Pokemon Company U.S. Patent No. 12,403,397. This patent governs game mechanics related to summoning “sub-characters” to a field to battle with “enemy characters” either through additional inputs or automatically.

At a glance, the patent appears to describe battle systems used in Pokemon Scarlet And Violet. Images show states where the players throw out their Pokemon to engage in a traditional turn-based Pokemon battle, as well as the “Let’s Go” mechanic where players can send out their own Pokemon to fight against wild Pokemon without controlling them directly. It is possible that Nintendo and The Pokemon Company aimed to protect these specific systems as part of their IP with this patent.

Initiating Pokemon Battles

“Let’s Go” Auto Battle Feature

However, the wording of the patent is vague enough that many are concerned that it could be used to target any previously released or future game that uses mechanics involving summoning one character to fight another. This could further set a worrying precedent of other game companies patenting their mechanics and using them to stamp out the potential competitor games in the same genre.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.