U.S. Patent Office Boss Orders Reexamination of Nintendo’s Controversial ‘Summon Character and Let It Fight’ Pokémon Patent, Which IP Lawyer Claims ‘Further Undermines Credibility’ of Its Case Against Palworld

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The director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office has ordered a reexamination of Nintendo’s controversial ‘summon character and let it fight’ Pokémon patent after it was heavily criticized by IP lawyers.

In September, IP lawyers criticized the U.S. patent system and the USPTO after Nintendo was awarded a Pokémon patent that revolves around summoning a character and letting it fight.

Games Fray reported that Patent No. 12,403,397, dubbed the ‘397 patent, was granted by the USPTO “without any objection” to Nintendo, which is embroiled in ongoing litigation with Pocketpair’s Palworld.

While the patent sums up how Pokémon games work in that you summon Pokémon to battle other Pokémon in the hope of adding them to your collection, there are countless other games that use similar mechanics, such as Persona, Digimon, and even Elden Ring, depending upon how the patent is interpreted.

At the time, IP expert Florian Mueller took to social media to say Nintendo “should never” have received a “summon character and let it fight” patent in the first place, while video game patent lawyer Kirk Sigmon told PC Gamer “these claims were in no way allowable.”

Now, Games Fray has reported that Donald Trump nominee John A.

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