Nintendo’s ongoing legal campaign against Palworld developer Pocketpair has hit another roadblock. A key patent in Nintendo’s “monster capture” family, one that sits right between two patents, currently being asserted in the Tokyo District Court, has been rejected by the Japan Patent Office (JPO).
The decision cites a lack of inventive step, pointing directly to older games such as ARK, Monster Hunter 4, Craftopia, Kantai Collection, and Pokémon GO itself as examples of prior art.
For Xbox players following this saga (and especially fans who jumped into Palworld on Xbox Game Pass), this new twist adds even more weight to Pocketpair’s defense. It reinforces the argument that Palworld isn’t necessarily copying Nintendo, but rather is inspired by and builds upon decades of established game mechanics.
