The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has taken the rare step of ordering a re-examination of Nintendo’s recent U.S. Patent No. 12,403,397, which covers the gameplay mechanic of summoning a character to fight on your behalf.
As reported by Gamesfray, the patent, originally granted on September 2, 2025, is now under scrutiny after the Director of the USPTO, John A. Squires, flagged two older patents that could be prior art—suggesting Nintendo’s claim may be too broad.
Nintendo, in partnership with The Pokémon Company, initially secured the patent in March 2023, granting them exclusive rights in the U.S. for a mechanic where a player controls a main character, summons a ‘sub-character’, and that sub-character automatically or manually battles enemies. Critics say the concept is far too generic, calling it “an indictment of the U.S. patent system.”
The re-examination is directly tied to Nintendo’s ongoing legal battle with Pocketpair over its survival-craft shooter Palworld. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company claim Pocketpair’s game infringes multiple patents, including this recent summons mechanic. The re-examination could weaken Nintendo’s case if the patent is invalidated.
Why the USPTO Stepped In
According to reports, Director John A. Squires believes that two prior patents may challenge the novelty of Nintendo’s claim: one held by Konami from 2002 involving sub-character control in manual and automated modes, and another from Nintendo itself filed in 2019. Their existence suggests Nintendo’s 2023 filing might not have been sufficiently original.
Patent attorneys have sounded alarms, noting that the patent was granted with minimal examination and appears overly broad—a dangerous precedent for the gaming industry. One expert called it “an embarrassing failure of the U.S. patent system.”
Implications for the Palworld Lawsuit and Beyond
If the re-examination results in invalidation or narrowing of the patent’s claims, Nintendo’s leverage against Palworld could diminish. The Japan Patent Office recently rejected a similar Nintendo patent on creature capture for lack of novelty, compounding the risk. More broadly, many developers worry this patent could affect dozens of games that use similar mechanics, from monster battlers to RPGs with summon systems.
Nintendo now has two months to respond formally to the re-examination order. While this doesn’t mean the patent is revoked, sources suggest a strong chance of it being struck down or significantly limited.
For Nintendo, the examination represents a high-stakes moment—not only for its legal strategy against Pocketpair, but for the broader precedent it sets in the games industry.
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