Japan Rejects Nintendo Patent 2026-019762 for Touchscreen Monster-Catching Mechanics
Updated
Updated · Eurogamer.net · May 18
Japan Rejects Nintendo Patent 2026-019762 for Touchscreen Monster-Catching Mechanics
6 articles · Updated · Eurogamer.net · May 18
April 24 brought another setback for Nintendo when the Japan Patent Office rejected application 2026-019762, a touchscreen-focused patent tied to monster-catching and battle mechanics.
JPO examiners said the claims showed no "inventive step," calling them a general rule set for using a capture item to catch field characters and deploy them in fights on touch-panel devices.
The filing was a divisional of an earlier patent application and appeared aimed at mobile-style games such as Palworld Mobile or Roco Kingdom: World; Nintendo had already amended the claims in February and can try again.
The denial follows a separate U.S. rejection disclosed last month, when the USPTO also turned down Nintendo's patent bid covering summoning characters to fight, deepening pressure on its broader campaign against Pocketpair.
With its key patents rejected, what legal ground does Nintendo have left in its high-stakes fight against Palworld?
If monster-catching is unpatentable, what does it now take for a game's design to be considered legally innovative?
Will this ruling unleash a wave of game clones, or push developers toward more technically complex, patentable features?