The United States Patent and Trademark Office has revoked a patent held by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company that covered gameplay mechanics involving summoning allies to fight alongside the player’s character. The reason cited was «obviousness» and the existence of similar ideas in earlier patents, including some filed by the companies themselves.
Patent US 12,403,397 was originally filed in 2023 and granted in September 2025. However, in November 2025, the USPTO initiated a re-examination after director John A. Squires stated that he had determined that substantial new questions of patentability have arisen.
The revocation is not final, meaning Nintendo still has the opportunity to challenge the decision. According to Game Fray’s Florian Mueller, the company has two months to respond and may appeal or amend the application, with the option to request an extension.
Mueller noted that the USPTO did not analyze specific games during the review, instead relying on prior patent filings.
«It is all based on combinations of two or three prior art references in the form of published US patent applications», «Two of those earlier patents were filed by Nintendo itself, and one each by Konami and Bandai Namco», — he wrote.
He also pointed out that the process was made “somewhat complicated” by the fact that the USPTO did not examine actual games. Despite this, Nintendo may still defend part of the patent. If it successfully argues for 18 of the 26 claims, it could continue legal action against other developers by asserting that «a person having ordinary skill in the art (i.e., a game developer in this case) would not necessarily combine those different prior art references».
The patent is part of Nintendo’s broader legal strategy against games like Pocketpair’s Palworld, as the company attempts to limit the spread of similar gameplay mechanics and curb the game’s popularity.
A similar situation previously occurred in Japan. In October 2025, the Japan Patent Office rejected another Nintendo patent related to monster capture mechanics, citing prior art in games such as the ARK series, Monster Hunter 4, and Craftopia.
While that decision was also non-final and did not directly impact Nintendo’s lawsuit against Pocketpair, it delayed the proceedings and left the company with the choice to either amend the application or abandon it. Now, a similar scenario is unfolding in the United States.
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