Nintendo’s Pokémon Patent Under Investigation by U.S. Government

The head of the U.S. Patent Office has issued an order to re-examine Nintendo’s controversial Pokémon patent. According to the government official, Nintendo’s combat summoning patent may not have been valid after all.

Nintendo’s Pokémon Summoning Patent Under Review

Back in September, the gaming industry was stunned when Nintendo was granted a patent by the U.S. government for “summoning a character in battle.” The patent drew major backlash from players and games industry analysts who called it too broad. Many argued that Nintendo was not the first to come up with a summoning and automatic combat mechanic. Apparently, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office agrees, as the patent is now being called into question.

In a stunning reverse decision, USPTO Director John A. Squires has called for the Pokémon patent to be re-examined by his own office. According to an order dated November 3, Squire states that his office failed to consider that there had been previous pieces of art that had a similar mechanic. “In view of this, substantial new questions of patentability have arisen. I hereby order reexamination of the ‘397 patent under 35 U.S.C. 304 and 37 C.F.R.”

Interestingly, Squires actually cites two patents that Konami had previously filed all the way back in 2002. The order states that Konami’s patents similarly cite a summoning mechanic that has players controlling a second character who engages in automatic battles for them. Although it should be pointed out that this latest order doesn’t mean the Nintendo Pokémon patent will get overturned. Although, according to insiders, a re-examination of a patent like this is actually pretty rare. So it’s definitely notable.

Nintendo’s Controversial Pokémon Patent Explained

The controversial Nintendo patent, specifically, was centered around an automatic battle mechanic introduced recently in the Gen 9 Pokémon series. For example, in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s “Let’s Go” mode, you could summon a Pokémon on the map to automatically engage in battle for you.

While some players initially thought the patent was for summoning a character in battle, it was actually for players controlling a summoned character in automatic overworld battles. Regardless, it seems the backlash has gotten the attention of the USPTO, which has now ordered the issued patent to be re-examined. 

Patent May Be Tied to Palworld Lawsuit

According to the November order, the USPTO office has a deadline of two months to investigate whether Nintendo’s patent was legitimate. So we will likely know the results of the re-examination sometime in January 2026. 

The patent was also controversial, given that Nintendo is currently involved in a lawsuit with Palworld for copyright infringement. By extension, some viewed the summoning patent as a tactic for Nintendo to further strengthen its legal battle with Palworld developer Pocketpair. It’s unclear how this latest update could impact the lawsuit, though.