The ongoing feud of Nintendo vs…well, the rest of the gaming world, it seems, has hit another roadstop as far as Nintendo is concerned. The Japan Patent Office – JPO for short – has rejected Nintendo’s latest patent application in order to take down Palworld developer Pocketpair. Their answer was that Nintendo’s claim can’t even be considered one.
In short: Nintendo didn’t invent creature collection, base-building, or crafting as game mechanics, and that’s exactly what the legal system told them. Boom.
This decision could slow down Nintendo’s crusade against Palworld, but it might also change the company’s gatekeeping of mechanics that, let’s be real, have existed for decades. Right now there’s not a lot of that to be seen, as Nintendo still insists that Palworld borrows too heavily from the pocket monsters, but the JPO has made it crystal: Copywriting a whole genre isn’t a thing you can do. Ouch, Nintendo.
Nintendo’s Argument vs Prior Art
The core of the issue here is that capturing, raising, and duking it out with other creatures isn’t a new game mechanic at all. In fact, the office specifically mentioned games like Ark and other survival games as prior art, stating that these core concepts existed well before Pokémon ever became a 3D sandbox game to begin with. Now, we know Nintendo – this ain’t the first time they tried to pull something like this, but this one truly feels outrageous.
The company has a long history of defending its IPs, and that’s fine – but copywriting a whole genre? Come on. This doesn’t just concern Pokémon, since Zelda and Mario fan-projects have been shut down repeatedly in the past, not even ROM sites are safe from Nintendo’s wrath. This latest rejection in Nintendo’s endeavor shows that Japan’s regulators in the matter are finally done with their antics, however.
Palworld Doesn’t Seem to Be the Enemy – Competition Is
Underneath all of that mess, there is one thing that doesn’t sit right with us: The fact that Palworld seems to be a scapegoat, more than anything else. Because if you look at it, apart from having cute monsters to collect, Palworld isn’t anything like Pokémon at all. Survival, crafting, gunplay – all of these things aren’t something you can do in Pokémon, and Nintendo’s way of doing things the safe way might have some repercussions after all, if you look at how popular Palworld has become.
So really, what Nintendo is doing, is trying to eliminate competition, and not by simply creating better, bigger, and more creative games, but by claiming they stole from them – which just isn’t true. Not a good look on you Nintendo, not a good look. It isn’t just that, though: It’s becoming pretty difficult to ignore a pattern here, even with rose-tinted glasses firmly wedged between your eyes.
Between the company’s hostility toward emulators, modders, and now indie developers who dare to innovate anything remotely resembling one of their titles, Nintendo feels less like the scrappy creative powerhouse of old and more like a corporate dinosaur – obsessed with control, and yes, pretty allergic to competition.
Having said that, legally speaking, the JPO’s rejection doesn’t mean Nintendo’s case against Palworld is dead – but it does seriously weaken their position, in our opinion. Without a recognized patent to stand on, it’s harder to argue that Palworld infringes on proprietary systems.
We haven’t even talked about the worst part, though, because culturally this whole spiel is an even bigger blow. Nintendo’s attempts to weaponize its legal department against anything even remotely resembling its crown jewels are starting to backfire. The gaming community, once fiercely loyal, is growing tired of watching one of the industry’s most beloved companies act like a gatekeeper rather than a creator.
