The fight against Pocketpair and Palworld has reached a new level.
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have received a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the character summoning mechanic for battles with opponents. Patent No. 12,403,397 was issued on September 2, 2025, and the office had no questions for the company at all.
In addition, Nintendo received another patent (No. 12,409,387) related to the mechanism of "smooth switching or control of objects". This step is notable against the background of the current legal proceedings, in which Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a lawsuit against the developer of Palworld, Pocketpair studio, accusing it of violating patents related to character collection and management mechanics.
Patent No. 12,403,397 describes the process of summoning a "sub-character", which can engage in battle with enemies immediately or later, which is familiar to many fans of Pokémon games. The document is accompanied by explanatory diagrams. This opens the possibility for Nintendo to initiate legal proceedings against other developers who, in its opinion, violate these patents.
Experts believe that Nintendo's new patents allow the company to drag a huge number of developers of the same role-playing games to court, where characters have the ability to summon minions or ride them.
