Nintendo has its patent rejected by the Japanese agency

Hindering progress and attempting to monopolize generic gameplay concepts is an outdated habit of the industry that needs to be tackled. The Japan Patent Office upheld the denial of a request from Nintendo, which aimed to patent the basic mechanics of aiming and throwing an item to capture digital creatures. This case is directly related to the legal dispute involving Pocketpair, the creator of the phenomenon Palworld. In the formal refusal report, the examiners referred to a 13-year-old video of the fan-made indie title Pokemon: Generations, proving that the concept described lacked any justifiable originality or technical innovation.

The government body's response intensified when the company challenged the use of an unofficial project that infringed copyright as a legal argument.

The examiners bluntly countered, explaining that potential intellectual property violations did not change the fact that an idea was already in the public domain.

The ironic stance adopted by the institute's lawyers exposed the weakness of the video game giant’s claims. The entity mocked the need for legal precision, highlighting that, to meet the publisher's whims, it would have to replace the name Ash with "object shaped like a boy with a red cap" and Pikachu with "small yellow creature" throughout the entire document. The report concluded by reinforcing that this bureaucratic change would not alter the definitive rejection due to an absolute lack of technical novelty.

Despite facing this public reprimand, the owner of Mario filed a request to review the matter. Although this specific record is not the cornerstone of the litigation against Pocketpair, maintaining this defeat undermines the company's narrative about exclusive ownership of traditional capture mechanics. Insisting on legalizing simple ideas instead of focusing on the creative evolution of its own products only serves to tarnish the company’s image before the community.