Nintendo Patents ‘Summon-and-Fight’ Battles — Could It Threaten Monster-Collecting Games?
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company were granted a U.S. patent this month that covers a core gameplay mechanic from the Pokémon series: summoning a character that then fights another. The grant, U.S. Patent No. **12,403,397**, was filed in 2023 and approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Sept. 2. As originally reported by Games Fray, the patent has drawn attention because of its broad wording and possible effects on other games that use summoning or companion-fighting mechanics.
– Patent details and scope
– Industry reaction and lawyer analysis
– Palworld, PocketPair, and the legal context
– What happens next
Patent details and scope
The patent describes a system in which a character in a virtual space summons a *“sub character”* that can move and automatically fight another character. In plain terms, it covers the mechanic of summoning a fighting ally that acts in the game world.
You can read the full 45-page document at the Internet Archive for the exact wording and diagrams: the full patent filing. The filing mentions gameplay elements that first appeared in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, but the language used in the grant is broader than just those games.
Industry reaction and lawyer analysis
Games Fray called the quick approval an “actually shocking” development. Author Florian Mueller wrote that the patent grant is “bad news for the videogame industry.”
Patent attorney Kirk Sigmon told PC Gamer that the USPTO’s fast and uncontested approval of the patent was “extremely unusual and raises a large number of red flags.” He also said, “[B]ad patents like this cast a massive shadow on the industry.”
Palworld, PocketPair, and the legal context
The patent comes amid an existing legal dispute between The Pokémon Company and PocketPair, the developer of Palworld. Games Fray has closely monitored that legal battle and reported on related developments. Because the patent covers summoning mechanics in broad terms, observers note it could be used against titles that use similar gameplay ideas.
PocketPair has already made changes to Palworld in response to previous legal action; however, the new patent grant adds another legal element to the situation.
What happens next
The patent provides Nintendo and The Pokémon Company with a formal IP tool that could, in theory, be asserted against other developers. Whether the companies will expand enforcement beyond the existing case with PocketPair is not known at this time.
Meanwhile, the patent’s approval has prompted calls for scrutiny of the USPTO process from legal commentators. For now, the grant stands and the full text of the patent is publicly available for anyone who wants to read the technical and legal specifics: the full patent filing.
