We have been following Nintendo’s Palworld lawsuit for the best part of six months now, and while we have grown to have a better understanding of the particular patents involved, all of the infringement claims have been tied to Japan. However, in recent months, it seems that Nintendo has been preparing to bring the lawsuit stateside, with a handful of applications now appearing in the US Patent Office.
As reported by Games Fray, Nintendo has had three patent applications approved in the US in recent months — no. 12179111 in December 2024, 12194382 in January, and 12220638 earlier this week on 11th February. While the middle of the three doesn’t appear to be all that relevant to the Palworld case (it was filed in 2022 and is all about exchanging items with other players), the remaining two were filed after Palworld’s launch and specifically detail creature-catching mechanics — the specifics of which appear to be integral to the lawsuit in Japan.
As is the case with the Japanese patents, these U.S. applications are derived from a “parent patent” established before Palworld’s launch. So, while the specifics were established after the fact, their links to the parent patent would make them valid in this instance.
Interestingly, Games Fray also highlights another Nintendo U.S. patent (18/652,883), which was actually filed back in September 2024, but was recently rejected by the patent office on 22 of the application’s 23 claims — and the final claim (which seemingly relates to switching out creatures that you can ride) was merely “objected” to.
The “objection” gives Nintendo the chance to rewrite the claim and submit it independently, though that would leave the company with a patent consisting of only a single claim (and, generally, the more claims you have, the more likely the accused party will have infringed on the patent).
While it remains to be seen what approach Nintendo will take with the rejected application, there are still two that have been accepted by the patent office and appear to relate to the Palworld lawsuit in Japan. The original case is still underway at the time of writing, but approvals like this have us thinking that it won’t be long before it formally heads stateside.