Nintendo’s Palworld lawsuit may be in trouble after Japan rejects Pokemon creature-capture patent
Nintendo’s ongoing lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair could be facing new challenges after Japan’s patent office rejected one of the company’s key creature-capture system patents for lacking originality.
According to reports from GameRant and Windows Central, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) denied Nintendo’s application no. 2024-031879 in late October 2025. The patent, which belongs to the same family as several filings cited in Nintendo and The Pokemon Company’s lawsuit against Palworld, was deemed not novel enough to qualify as an original invention.
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The examiner referenced multiple prior games, including Monster Hunter 4, ARK: Survival Evolved, Kantai Collection, Craftopia, and even Pokemon GO, as examples of earlier titles that used similar creature-capture or switching systems.
Nintendo
Key patent family under scrutiny
Nintendo’s rejected application sits within a broader family that includes patents JP 7493117, JP 7545191, and JP 7528390, several of which are central to the lawsuit filed in Tokyo District Court on September 19, 2024. The companies allege Palworld infringes on mechanics covering creature capture and rideable creature switching.
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While the rejected filing isn’t directly named in the lawsuit, analysts such as Games Fray’s Florian Mueller note that it acts as a “key building block” between patents being asserted in court. If one branch of that patent chain is found unoriginal, the rest may face increased scrutiny during litigation.
Nintendo now has 60 days from the decision to amend or appeal the rejection, which would extend its window to late December 2025.
Pocketpair
What it means for the case
The JPO’s ruling doesn’t automatically invalidate Nintendo’s lawsuit, as the Tokyo District Court isn’t bound by administrative patent decisions. However, it may influence how the court evaluates the originality of Nintendo’s claimed systems, an issue Pocketpair is already expected to contest.
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The Palworld lawsuit, originally filed on the first anniversary of the game’s release, has already been delayed due to Nintendo amending another disputed patent (JP 7528390) earlier this year. Legal experts now expect proceedings to continue well into 2026.
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For now, Nintendo’s case remains active, but the JPO’s rejection marks a rare public setback in its long-running effort to defend the originality of the Pokemon series’ creature-capture mechanics.
