US Patent Office Orders Re-examination of Nintendo’s Controversial Pokemon Patent

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By Gaming News
5 November 2025 no comments

Nintendo’s September patent grant faces re-examination by the USPTO, adding pressure after Japan’s earlier patent rejection.

USPTORe-examination of Nintendo’s Controversial Pokemon Patent  

In a surprising turn of events, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has ordered a re-examination of a key patent recently granted to Nintendo. The patent in question (No. 12,403,397, granted in September 2025) covers what Nintendo describes as a gameplay mechanic involving “summoning a sub-character and letting it fight in one of two battle modes”.

The order for re-examination came directly from USPTO Director John A. Squires, who cited “substantial new questions of patentability” after reviewing prior art that may not have been fully considered during the original approval process.

The decision, first reported by Games Fray, adds another twist to Nintendo’s ongoing patent saga, particularly as parts of its portfolio are being scrutinized amid its high-profile legal dispute with Palworld developer Pocketpair.

 

US Government Re-examines Nintendo’s Patent

Nintendo filed this U.S. patent in March 2023, and it was officially granted in September 2025. On paper, the patent describes a fairly straightforward concept. Basically it’s a system that lets a player summon a secondary character or creature and choose whether to control it directly or let it act automatically.

   

While that may sound routine in today’s games, the USPTO now wants a closer look at whether earlier works already introduced similar ideas. Squires’ directive mentions older patents including one from Konami in 2002 that could challenge the originality of Nintendo’s claim.

It’s worth noting that Squires’ involvement itself is rare. A director-initiated re-examination doesn’t happen often, especially in entertainment or gaming patents. It shows that the office sees enough cause to revisit the file rather than wait for a formal dispute.

To be clear, this isn’t a cancellation or revocation of Nintendo’s patent. A re-examination simply means the USPTO will review the patent again, this time considering additional prior art and arguments. The process can take months and often ends with the claims being clarified or narrowed, rather than wiped out entirely.

Nintendo may have had great past months for its Nintendo Switch 2 launch but its patent or law office probably does not share the same feeling. Just a few weeks earlier, Japan’s Patent Office rejected one of the company’s other filings related to its monster-capture mechanics, used in the lawsuit against Pocketpair Inc. and its game Palworld.

   

The Japanese office pointed to several older games as examples of similar systems, including ARK: Survival Evolved (2015), Monster Hunter 4 (2013), and Kantai Collection (2013). These examples, it said, showed that the ideas Nintendo was trying to protect weren’t as novel as claimed.

That rejection isn’t final though, and Nintendo can still appeal. But taken together, both the Japanese and U.S. developments show that Nintendo’s recent patents are under closer scrutiny than usual.

 

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Sending some gaming news your way from a surfing paradise island. Loves creating content, and researching informative facts and useless trivia. A novice in the gaming industry but a veteran in communications and publication.

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