US Patent Office Revokes Nintendo’s “Summoning Characters” Patent

Last year, the US Patent Office ordered a reexamination of Nintendo’s “summoning and battling characters” patent, which they had presumably obtained as part of their strategy targeting PocketPair’s Palworld.

According to an update from Gamesfray, the USPTO has rejected all 26 claims made in the patent, meaning it has been revoked entirely. Gamesfray explains that Nintendo failed to respond to the USPTO’s call for reexamination,, and they proceeded accordingly.

The USPTO called the rejection “obvious” and did not play or review any games to come to its decision. US Patent and Trade Office director John A. Squires determined that there were already many pre-existing patents describing the mechanics of summoning a character to fight another, several of which are owned by Nintendo themselves. Therefore, it is not possible for Nintendo to patent the mechancis described in its latest “Summoning Characters” patent.

That said, the decision is also described as “non-final” and Nintendo’s lawyers have about two months to respond to this decision. Stay tuned for more updates as they come.

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