Nintendo’s New Patents; Innovation or Overreach?
TL;DR
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have a cluster of U.S. patents granted between Dec 2024 and Sept 2025 that bundle specific gameplay flows:
- Capture flow: aim → success indicator → throw → capture → deploy
- Alternate throw modes: same throw can capture or deploy depending on mode
- Ride/Glide switching: automatic transitions between air, ground, and water mounts
- Summoning flow: cause a sub-character to appear; if an enemy is there, battle; if not, the sub-character can move on its own or follow directed input
Supporters say these are narrow flows. Critics say they’re over-broad and risk design chill. Below are the claims in plain English plus primary sources.
What Changed Most Recently
Two early-September 2025 grants pushed this to the front page: a “summoning” patent and another related to riding/flying systems. Media and lawyers quickly weighed in. Primary sources and top coverage are embedded below.
US 12,403,397 B2 — Summoning Sub-Character; battle vs auto-move (Sept 2, 2025)
Primary source
US 12,409,387 B2 — Riding/Flying systems (Sept 9, 2025)
Primary source
Coverage — VGC: “Nintendo now has a US patent on summoning…”
videogameschronicle.com …/summoning-characters/
Context and summary
PC Gamer — IP attorney calls the grants an “embarrassing failure”
pcgamer.com …/an-embarrassing-failure…
Legal criticism and industry impact
The Verge — “No, Nintendo and Pokémon did not patent ‘summoning’ in general”
theverge.com …/summoning-battle-patent
Counter-angle on claim breadth
Portfolio At A Glance (Plain English)
1) Capture Pipeline (two U.S. patents)
US 12,179,111 B2 (Dec 31, 2024) frames capture as a stitched flow: aim at a field character, see success odds, throw a capture item, on success capture → deploy. The novelty is the single pipeline rather than the raw idea of throwing something.
US 12,179,111 B2 — Creature capture pipeline
USPTO/Google-hosted PDF • Google Patents
<!-- wp:html --> <div class="ldn-source-card"> <div class="src-title">US 12,179,111 B2 — Creature capture pipeline</div> <a class="src-link" href="https://ppubs.uspto.gov/api/pdf/downloadPdf/12179111" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USPTO PDF (ppubs.uspto.gov)</a> <div class="src-meta">Date: Dec 31, 2024</div> </div> <!-- /wp:html -->Date: Dec 31, 2024
US 12,220,638 B2 (Feb 11, 2025) adds detail about aim-point generation and mode switching where the same throw can either capture or deploy a fighter based on state.
US 12,220,638 B2 — Capture vs deploy in same throw loop
USPTO/Google-hosted PDF • Google Patents
Date: Feb 11, 2025
2) Ride ↔ Glide Switching (two U.S. patents)
US 12,246,255 B2 (Mar 11, 2025) covers automatic transitions among air, ground, and water “boarding target objects,” like gliding down and cleanly shifting to a land mount without menus.
US 12,246,255 B2 — Smooth switching between rideables
USPTO Official Gazette entry • Google Patents
Date: Mar 11, 2025
US 12,409,387 B2 (Sept 9, 2025) is a continuation family member in this traversal theme and tightens the coverage around riding or flying systems.
US 12,409,387 B2 — Riding/Flying mechanics (continuation)
Date: Sept 9, 2025
3) “Summoning” a Sub-Character on the Field (one U.S. patent)
US 12,403,397 B2 (Sept 2, 2025) claims a specific flow: you cause a sub-character to appear. If an enemy is at that location, the system controls a battle by a first mode. If no enemy is there, the sub-character can auto-move or follow directed input, and upon encountering an enemy, the system can handle a second battle mode. This reads close to many modern companion or monster-taming behaviors, which is why it raised alarms.
US 12,403,397 B2 — Summoning, auto-move, and battle modes
Date: Sept 2, 2025
How This Connects To The Japan Case
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company sued Pocketpair in Japan citing Japanese patents on throwing/aiming and riding mechanics. The U.S. filings since late 2024 appear to mirror and extend that strategy.
Nintendo: Filing Lawsuit for Infringement of Patent Rights (Tokyo District Court)
Official Nintendo press release — Sep 19, 2024
Primary source for the Japan case filing
The Verge: The JP patents asserted (throwing/aiming/riding)
Here are the patents Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are suing Palworld over
Lists JP 7545191, JP 7493117, JP 7528390
What It Means For Devs (Reality vs Fear)
These patents do not own the abstract idea of “summoning” or “riding.” They claim particular sequences and conditions. That said, multiple attorneys and reporters argue they still read too broad in practice, which can chill design while everyone waits for courts or the USPTO to trim them.
If you are shipping a commercial game, talk to counsel. General risk-reduction ideas devs are exploring:
- Avoid binding capture and deploy to a single throw loop. Use different inputs, rituals, or UI flows.
- Prefer manual confirmations over automatic traversal switching if you want a conservative posture.
- Make companion AI distinct with different spawn conditions, pathing, and engagement thresholds that don’t track the claimed sequences.
Timeline (U.S. Grants)
- Dec 31, 2024: US 12,179,111 granted (capture pipeline)
- Feb 11, 2025: US 12,220,638 granted (capture vs deploy in same throw loop)
- Mar 11, 2025: US 12,246,255 granted (ride/glide switching)
- Sept 2, 2025: US 12,403,397 granted (summoning and battle modes)
- Sept 9, 2025: US 12,409,387 granted (riding/flying systems)
More Reading and Legal Analysis
Law firm roundup — Four core U.S. patents and JP linkage
womblebonddickinson.com …/gottacatch-em-all-court…
Legal context
Game Developer — Summoning mechanic patent overview
gamedeveloper.com …/nintendo-patents-character-summoning…
Industry news
Our Take (Receipts First)
- The patents and dates are confirmed by the primary records above.
- Even if enforceable only on their specific flows, this can still cause design chill because many teams will over-avoid gray zones.
- We will keep tracking any U.S. complaint filings and any USPTO reexam or court challenges that narrow or invalidate claims.
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