{"id":14535,"date":"2026-07-23T11:10:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T06:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=14535"},"modified":"2026-07-23T11:10:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T06:10:44","slug":"nintendo-patent-tied-to-palworld-lawsuit-stays-rejected-as-jpo-shuts-down-objections-in-unusually-sharp-tongued-notice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=14535","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo patent\u00a0tied\u00a0to\u00a0Palworld\u00a0lawsuit stays rejected\u00a0as JPO shuts down\u00a0objections in\u00a0unusually sharp-tongued\u00a0notice\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week,\u00a0Japan\u2019s\u00a0Patent Office (hereafter\u00a0JPO)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp\/h0000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">published a notice of rejection<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Nintendo and The Pok\u00e9mon Company\u2019s\u00a0divisional\u00a0patent application\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp\/c1801\/PU\/JP-2026-077713\/11\/ja\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">No. 2026-019762<\/a>.\u00a0Describing\u00a0an\u00a0\u201cin-game monster-capturing system,\u201d\u00a0this\u00a0patent\u00a0application is closely\u00a0tied to\u00a0the ongoing\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/palworld-developers-reveal-details-of-nintendo-and-pokemon-company-infringement-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">legal dispute with\u00a0Palworld\u00a0developer Pocketpair<\/a>,\u00a0so it\u00a0comes as no surprise that the\u00a0rejection has attracted attention.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But\u00a0curiously, Japanese\u00a0users\u00a0have pointed out the uncharacteristically scalding language\u00a0JPO\u2019s examiner\u00a0used\u00a0in addressing\u00a0the counterarguments from Nintendo\u2019s side, with people\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/benrishikoza\/status\/2079398149865832599\/quotes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">amusedly posting their \u201cfavorite quotes\u201d<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0legal\u00a0back-and-forth.\u00a0Industry professionals\u00a0like\u00a0Japanese\u00a0patent attorney Kiyoshi Kurihara have\u00a0likewise\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.co.jp\/expert\/articles\/f937d9ae38730b77376ec3651e848bbb42cbf67c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">commented<\/a>\u00a0that both Nintendo\u2019s objections and the examiner\u2019s written response\u00a0contained\u00a0\u201cthings rarely seen in standard patent practice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the key factors\u00a0behind\u00a0the patent\u2019s rejection\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/9TznS7pE-T8?si=6cWhOfCXXR_zXREU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube gameplay video<\/a>\u00a0from 2013\u00a0demonstrating\u00a0the\u00a0indie fangame Pok\u00e9mon Generations.\u00a0In its initial\u00a0\u201cReasons for Rejection,\u201d\u00a0the JPO cited\u00a0gameplay mechanics showcased\u00a0in the video to\u00a0argue a lack\u00a0of inventive step in Nintendo\u2019s patent\u00a0application,\u00a0describing mechanisms like\u00a0\u201cselecting a Pok\u00e9 Ball displayed at the bottom right of the screen causes\u00a0Ash\u00a0to throw it; if it hits Pikachu, Pikachu can be captured.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/HTML\/BODY\/DIV[@id='main-container']\/*[2][self::MAIN]\/*[1][self::DIV]\/*[1][self::ARTICLE]\/*[3][self::DIV]\/*[5][self::FIGURE]\/*[1][self::IMG]\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-69906\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260612-449496-header-1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260612-449496-header-1-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260612-449496-header-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260612-449496-header-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, in its\u00a0subsequent\u00a0counterargument, Nintendo\u2019s side strongly\u00a0disputed these claims,\u00a0emphasizing\u00a0that the\u00a0game in question\u00a0and the characters depicted in it\u00a0infringed\u00a0upon its copyrights.\u00a0They argue\u00a0that JPO\u2019s examiner \u201cacted extremely inappropriately by deliberately mischaracterizing an infringing product as though it were an authorized one,\u201d\u00a0and this sentence is repeated\u00a0numerous\u00a0times throughout the document.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In turn,\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0recent\u00a0notice\u00a0confirming the rejection,\u00a0JPO\u2019s\u00a0examiner\u00a0shuts down\u00a0the mention of copyright infringement\u00a0entirely,\u00a0explaining that,\u00a0based on\u00a0domestic\u00a0patent law and court precedent,\u00a0whether an invention infringes\u00a0on\u00a0copyright\u00a0or not\u00a0has no bearing on determining inventive step.\u00a0While\u00a0somewhat drily\u00a0implying that Nintendo\u2019s stance strays from\u00a0\u201cstandard thinking for patent\u00a0practitioners,\u201d\u00a0they\u00a0dismiss the\u00a0interpretation\u00a0that\u00a0the\u00a0examiner\u00a0acknowledged\u00a0the cited fangame as an officially licensed Pok\u00e9mon game\u00a0as a\u00a0\u201ccompletely unreasonable misunderstanding.\u201d\u00a0They also add,\u00a0\u201cThe mere possibility that the reasons for rejection could be subject to such an unreasonable misunderstanding has no bearing on the assessment of inventive step.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another part of the notice that has been\u00a0causing\u00a0amusement among Japanese users\u00a0is the examiner\u2019s\u00a0apparent\u00a0annoyance\u00a0with\u00a0Nintendo\u2019s pedantry over how the unofficial game and its content was referred to\u00a0in the reasons for rejection.\u00a0In its counterarguments, the company\u00a0stated, \u201cAsh,\u00a0Pikachu,\u00a0and Pok\u00e9\u00a0Ball\u00a0should properly be referred to as \u201ca character infringing upon\u00a0Ash,\u201d \u201ca character infringing upon Pikachu,\u201d and \u201ca character infringing upon\u00a0Pok\u00e9\u00a0Balls,\u201d respectively.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response, the examiner\u00a0says, \u201cIf it were impermissible for the reasons for rejection to refer to character names, then\u00a0even at the cost of being redundant, accuracy should take precedence. In that case, the notice would need to use cumbersome descriptions such as \u2018an object in the form of a small animal\u2019 instead of Pok\u00e9mon, \u2018an object in the form of a boy wearing a red cap\u2019 instead of Ash, \u2018an object in the form of a\u00a0small\u00a0yellow animal\u2019 instead of Pikachu,\u00a0\u2018an object in the form of a\u00a0small\u00a0green\u00a0animal\u2019\u00a0instead of Bulbasaur, and\u00a0\u2018a spherical object with a red upper half and a white lower half\u2019\u00a0instead of Pok\u00e9 Ball. However, even with such rephrasing, the logical structure of the grounds for refusal\u00a0remains\u00a0unchanged. Therefore, this argument has no bearing on determining\u00a0inventive\u00a0step.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-od-added-loading=\"\" data-od-replaced-sizes=\"(max-width: 1308px) 100vw, 1308px\" src=\"\/HTML\/BODY\/DIV[@id='main-container']\/*[2][self::MAIN]\/*[1][self::DIV]\/*[1][self::ARTICLE]\/*[3][self::DIV]\/*[10][self::FIGURE]\/*[1][self::IMG]\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1308\" height=\"732\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1308px) 100vw, 1308px\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-69907\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260722-69903-001.jpg 1308w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260722-69903-001-380x213.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260722-69903-001-768x430.jpg 768w\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another objection raised by Nintendo positioned that the Pok\u00e9mon Generations video was \u201cmerely\u00a0a video\u201d and thus the examiner\u00a0could not\u00a0extract\u00a0the technical elements of the\u00a0claimed invention from it. The examiner seems puzzled by\u00a0what this argument is supposed to mean, surmising that it\u00a0is probably intended to\u00a0imply one\u00a0of two things: that Nintendo\u2019s side acknowledges that the video is genuine gameplay footage, but does not believe footage alone\u00a0can\u00a0disclose the\u00a0technical\u00a0features of a game program; or, that Nintendo\u2019s side is casting doubt about whether the video is gameplay footage at all, but\u00a0perhaps\u00a0merely an animated video to which narration has been added so as to make it appear as though the uploader were playing a game. The examiner promptly dismisses both arguments, while noting that in the second scenario, \u201cthe uploader\u2019s behavior would be way too preposterous.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While these are just some snippets, JPO\u2019s notice\u00a0ultimately did\u00a0not acknowledge the objections\u00a0brought\u00a0forth\u00a0by\u00a0Nintendo\u2019s side, and the\u00a0patent\u2019s\u00a0rejection has been sustained. Nintendo\u00a0now\u00a0has the right to\u00a0file a petition for a trial against the decision of rejection with the Commissioner of the\u00a0JPO\u00a0within three months.\u00a0Note that this\u00a0rejection\u00a0does not invalidate the registered patent currently being directly asserted in the\u00a0Palworld\u00a0lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court.\u00a0Rather, it concerns the\u00a0JPO\u2019s\u00a0refusal to grant\u00a0Nintendo\u00a0a patent for a separate divisional application within the same patent family.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Related:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/nintendo-and-the-pokemon-company-have-reportedly-narrowed-palworld-lawsuit-to-older-versions-of-the-game-only-likely-thanks-to-preventive-updates-by-pocketpair\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Nintendo and The Pok\u00e9mon Company h<\/strong><strong>a<\/strong><strong>ve reportedly narrowed Palworld lawsuit to older versions of the game only, likely thanks to \u201cpreventive\u201d updates by Pocketpair<\/strong><\/a><strong\/>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n\t\t<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week,\u00a0Japan\u2019s\u00a0Patent Office (hereafter\u00a0JPO)\u00a0published a notice of rejection\u00a0of\u00a0Nintendo and The Pok\u00e9mon Company\u2019s\u00a0divisional\u00a0patent application\u00a0No. 2026-019762.\u00a0Describing\u00a0an\u00a0\u201cin-game monster-capturing system,\u201d\u00a0this\u00a0patent\u00a0application is closely\u00a0tied to\u00a0the ongoing\u00a0legal dispute with\u00a0Palworld\u00a0developer Pocketpair,\u00a0so it\u00a0comes as no surprise that the\u00a0rejection has attracted attention.\u00a0\u00a0 But\u00a0curiously, Japanese\u00a0users\u00a0have pointed out the uncharacteristically scalding language\u00a0JPO\u2019s examiner\u00a0used\u00a0in addressing\u00a0the counterarguments from Nintendo\u2019s side, with people\u00a0amusedly posting their \u201cfavorite quotes\u201d\u00a0from the\u00a0legal\u00a0back-and-forth.\u00a0Industry professionals\u00a0like\u00a0Japanese\u00a0patent attorney&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260722-69903-header.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}