Nintendo Has Acquired a New Anti-Palworld Patent

Nintendo and the Pokémon Company recently received a new patent in the United States, which could help their lawsuit against Palworld.

According to a report by Games Fray (via Gamerant), Nintendo and the Pokemon Company recently acquired U.S. Patent No. 12,220,638, which helps them fight Palworld in different countries. Players must first learn about a previous patent published on December 31, 2024, to understand the new patent.

On December 31, 2024, U.S. Patent No. 12,179,111 was acquired by Nintendo, where the company outlined a “first mode and a second mode”. In the former, players would use a “catching item” to procure a “field character”, and in the latter, a “fighting character” is released to engage in battle with the “field character”. It was speculated that Palworld changed how Pal Spheres worked in the game when Nintendo was in the process of publishing this patent, as all parties were informed about it a month before it was published.

Nintendo acquired the new U.S. Patent No. 12,220,638 on February 11, 2025, and it was very similar to the one they published at the end of last year. However, some different terms were used in this patent, where “field character” has been replaced by “virtual character” and “catching items” with “obtaining items.” A display indicator for “likelihood of success” for obtaining a virtual character was mentioned, too. Lastly, any mentions of the first and second modes were removed.

So, how does Nintendo’s new patent help their lawsuit against Palworld? The report reveals that with the first patent, Pocketpair argued that there wasn’t a clear separation between a “first mode and second mode” in Palworld. With the new patent, Nintendo removed the distinction between these first and second modes and added new terms like “virtual character” and “obtaining items” to increase their chances in the patent infringement lawsuit.

Moreover, Nintendo and the Pokemon Company are not slowing down in their battle against Palworld. To help with the rejected claims, their attorney has requested an interview with the patent examiner on February 8, 2025.

In other news, Pocketpair Publishing is now live. Palworld received five new skins for the Spring Festival. Do you think Nintendo’s new patent help them in their lawsuit against Palworld? Let us know in the comments or on our new community forum!

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