Nintendo has recently secured patents targeting games like Palworld. Now, one of them is set to be reviewed again. An update has been released.
Which patent is the authority going after? Specifically affected is U.S. Patent No. 12,403,397, which the U.S. agency reportedly approved in September 2025. It specifically describes the summoning and controlling of additional game characters for games on consoles and similar devices.
This is about Nintendo securing the method by which a character summons a second one. This second character can fight and can be used by the first character in combat.
Shortly after the approval of the patent, a U.S. lawyer commented that the approval was highly unusual
. Almost two months later, the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), John A. Squires, has initiated a re-examination on his own initiative, as reported by Gamesfray.
A patent under (re)examination
What does the development mean? Specifically, it is about the approval of No. 12,403,397 being reviewed again. According to John A. Squires, the background is that similar, earlier patents already exist. One of these was approved for Konami in 2002 and the other was granted to Nintendo in 2019.
This means that Nintendo’s recently granted patent may potentially not be new or innovative enough to be approved independently again. It could therefore be that through a re-evaluation, the patent may ultimately not be granted.
This would nullify the most criticized patent that Nintendo has submitted since the start of the legal dispute with Palworld. Nintendo now has two months to respond to the patent office. Intervention by third parties is not planned within the framework of the re-evaluation.
What does this mean for the legal dispute? For now, this effectively means nothing for the legal dispute between Palworld developer Pocket Pair and Nintendo. The Pokémon publisher is currently solely suing the competition with guns in Japan.
However, the American patent attempts have been seen as an omen that Nintendo may also want to go after Palworld in the United States.
Currently, it seems that the game itself and developer Pocket Pair are still doing well. Just a month ago, the devs announced a new game, and Palworld is on a direct path to release in 2026. Those who enjoy something a bit spooky may be pleased with the current collaboration between Palworld and Once Human: Free survival game on Steam officially collaborates with Palworld, allowing you to become a monster yourself.
