A new report has revealed that Nintendo has acquired a third anti-Palworld patent, and a fourth one is almost about to be granted.
According to a report by GamesFray, Nintendo now has three anti-Palworld patents—the first two mentioned in an earlier report. The latest one, 12,246,255, was granted on March 11, 2025. It concerns smooth switching between flying and land traversal objects. Also, Nintendo’s request to interview the patent examiner was approved, and it seems a fourth patent will be granted soon.
What do Nintendo’s Anti-Palworld Patents Mean for Pocketpair
Nintendo will soon have four anti-Palworld patents in the United States, which could mean a lawsuit could be filed against Pocketpair soon. The latest approved patent was initially filled in September 2022, but Nintendo has made amendments to it over the years, even after Palworld’s launch.
Nintendo’s interview with the USPTO examiner was successful. Out of the 23 patent claims, Nintendo has been able to add additional requirements to independent and dependent claims. It has dropped two claims and made limited changes to a claim. Moreover, Nintendo and the Pokemon Company have added a 24th claim, which talks about interacting with a character that a player either battles with or captures.
GamesFray believes it is “fairly likely” that Nintendo and The Pokemon Company will file a patent infringement complaint in the US. However, it is not certain, and depending on how things go in Japan, there’s always a chance that the lawsuit will never come.
In other news, Pocketpair’s CEO came ‘under attack in Japan every day’ when Palworld was released. Also, the game could be released on the Switch 2 if the console is ‘beefy enough’. What are your thoughts on Nintendo acquiring more anti-Palworld patents? Let us know in the comments or on our community forum!
For more information from Insider Gaming, read about Nintendo delaying Switch 2 pre-orders in the US. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
At this point why does anyone support them anymore? Nintendo is scummy and shady as hell and deserve the axe..
Some of those patents will have a far reaching affect outside of Palworld. I’m pretty sure Blizzard (World of Warcraft) has had the mount functions Nintendo is claiming way before them (by about 2 decades).
Nintendo is addicted to bad press at this point
Literally what I thought. These patents are so vague that literally any game where you ride a creature that flies would count.
‘What do Nintendo’s anti-Palworld patents mean for Pocketpair’
I can tell you what it means for Nintendo. It means they’ll be getting a little less money because I’ll be playing most of their games on PC.
I think it will be much harder to file suit in the us because in the US from my understanding prior art is enough to invalidate a patent. So all poketpair will have to so is show that a game did this before the patent was filed.
Us patents are weak to this prior art argument one example is the water bed was patented i think i the 70s, another company started making a similar water filled bed and was sued claiming patent violation, well they found prior art, in a scifi book from the 50s someone had described pretty exactly a water bed, that was enough to prove the current patent holder wasn’t the first to come up with the idea and the case was thrown out and the patent invalidated.
I officially swear off all nintendo products going forward.
IDK why people are so shitty minded that they keep on buying this Nintendo’s shit even after the craps they have pulled and are still pulling. Just stop buying, or people don’t have any control on themselves anymore? Don’t but upcoming Nintendo and the games and just stop all this mess.
Switch 2 is already going to be delayed in the US after the tariffs. Why can’t we just cancel Nintendo for once they need to be humbled for a change.
Nintendo keeps trying to patent vague ideas that have nothing to do with our unique to palworld or Pokemon. “The smooth transition of flying to land with an object”? Like flying in gta San Andreas or gta5? Like Skyrim riding the dragons? Like ark survival evolved with a huge variety of flying Dinos? Like smalland riding bees? No Nintendo. You don’t own the idea of flight in a video game.
Before this they filed for “2 modes in a game. Map mode where you can explore the world. And transition into combat mode”. I’m other words they think This is unique to Pokemon despite final fantasy and legend of Dragoon did it long before. Nintendo disgusts me