Overview
- The JPO issued a rejection of Patent Publication No. 2026-077713 on inventive-step grounds on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, explicitly citing a 2013 fan-made Pokemon: Generations video as prior art.
- Nintendo objected to the office’s use of a fan work it says infringes copyright, and the JPO replied that copyright issues do not affect whether an invention is obvious, then listed the rejection as "under review" after Nintendo filed a petition.
- The rejected application covers an in-game monster-capturing system and belongs to the same patent family as patents Nintendo has relied on in its lawsuit against Palworld, but it is not the primary patent being enforced in court.
- Fans flooded the original YouTube video with celebratory comments after the JPO notice, while Palworld developer Pocketpair has said it quietly adjusted some features and that patent clearance was not a primary focus for the game.
- If the JPO’s reasoning holds, the decision could make it harder to patent common game mechanics because inventive-step law requires novelty over earlier public works, and Nintendo can still amend the application or appeal as the Tokyo litigation continues.