The legal battle between Nintendo and Palworld creator PocketPair just become even more interesting. Last year, Nintendo was able to get approval for patents around summoning and battling characters that were immediately controversial, so much so that some lawyers said the approvals “should not have happened, full stop.” Two months later, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) moved to re-examine those patents, and now, those patents have officially been revoked.
This comes from the latest report from Games Fray, which has consistently reported on the evolving case between Nintendo and PocketPair. If you need a recap on what’s happened with the case, the key thing to remember here is that when the lawsuit officially kicked off back in September 2024, the suit was not, as many suspected it would be, based on copyright infringement with Palworld looking suspiciously like Pokémon.
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It was based on patent infringement, and though it appeared to be working initially, with PocketPair having already made changes to Palworld as a result of the suit, Nintendo has been doing everything it can to make its patent case stick, even trying “Hail Mary” tactics like changing the patents it claims PocketPair was infringing in the middle of these legal proceedings.
The patents it had approved back in September 2025 could arguably be considered more ‘Hail Mary’ tactics, especially as several patent professionals seemingly agreed they should not have been approved in the first place, and it brought on a re-examination directly from the USPTO director, John A. Squires, which itself is a rare event since most patents aren’t re-examined post their initial approval.
Now, it seems that Nintendo has overextended itself. The USPTO has moved to ‘reject’ (which Game Frays explains means ‘revoked,’ though the USPTO uses ‘reject’ as its terminology) all 26 claims made by the previously approved patents. It’s worth noting that the USPTO’s decision here is not final, and that Nintendo has at least two months to issue a response, which could lead to the company trying to appeal the decision with the Federal Circuit, though it could take longer if Nintendo is granted an extension.
The ball is now with Nintendo, which needs to decide if it wants to try and fight for these patents to stick in an attempt to finally remove Palworld from existence, or if it will try a different path. While there are some who believe that Pocketpair and Palworld crossed a line with how it, let’s say, ‘took inspiration’ from Pokémon, Nintendo’s campaign to run the game into the ground through legal means seems to be more and more dire as the case goes on.
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