Nintendo loses patent battle against Pocketpair over Palworld

Nintendo is locked in a legal battle with developer Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, a game clearly inspired by Pokémon-style monster capture and throwing mechanics. The dispute has taken another turn, with Nintendo suffering yet another setback in its efforts to secure a touchscreen-specific patent.

Legal battle between Nintendo and Pocketpair

The lawsuit between Nintendo and Pocketpair centers largely on monster capture and the mechanics surrounding it. Nintendo has tried to strengthen its position by filing patents that could potentially give it rights over these systems. So far, however, the legal strategy has brought more trouble than success.

USPTO rejects the patent

Recently, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected Nintendo’s patent for summoning characters. The rejection followed criticism from intellectual property lawyers, who argued that Nintendo’s claims were not innovative enough. On April 24, 2026, the rejection was officially communicated, after which Nintendo could still submit amendments to the patent application.

New patent application for touchscreen devices

As part of its legal defense, Nintendo attempted to file a new patent application focused on touchscreen devices. This specific patent, application number 2026-019762, is a division of the earlier application centered on monster capture mechanics, but with a clear focus on touchscreen functionality.

The application describes a game program executed by a computer in an information-processing apparatus equipped with a touchscreen. The claims outline mechanics that closely resemble Pokémon-style gameplay, such as using a “capture item for capturing a field character” and using those characters in field battles. However, these claims were also reviewed unfavorably by the Japan Patent Office (JPO), which concluded there was nothing technologically innovative about them.

Nintendo has repeatedly tried to protect its patents in recent years, but without the results it was hoping for. The rejection of the touchscreen application marks another difficult moment in its legal fight, and it remains unclear how Nintendo will proceed in its efforts to support its claims over these gameplay mechanics.