Nintendo he received a new setback in his legal dispute with Pocketpair, developer of Palworld, after the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) he will order an exceptional review of one of his patents. According to GamesFray, the November 3, 2025 the director of the organization, John A. Squires, intervened personally to reopen the file US Patent No. 12,403,397, which describes a system for “summoning a subcharacter and allowing him to fight in two different modes”.
The measure, known as Director-Initiated Ex Parte Reexamination, is a rare process and cites two previous patents: one filed by Konami in 2002 and another for his own Nintendo in 2019, both with similar functions. Although the revision does not immediately void the record, it could invalidate it if it is determined that the elements were already described in those references above.
An unusual precedent in the video game industry
Is the first review initiated by USPTO management in more than a decade, which reflects the controversy generated by the validity of the patent. The organization granted Nintendo a period of two months to respond, but legal analysts consider the main claims likely —the sections 1, 13, 25 and 26— are annulled, which would render the rest of the document void. This would weaken the central argument in the company's defense within its litigation against Palworld.
A second setback after the rejection in Japan
The decision comes a week after the Japan Patent Office he rejected a related request, considering that the creature capture system lacked originality. Said patent is part of the same family used in the lawsuit as Nintendo and The Pokémon Company they maintain against Pocketpair in the Tokyo District Court since september 2024. The case, supervised by the judge Motoyuki Nakashima, will continue throughout 2026 as both sides adjust their legal strategy.
