In the ongoing legal tug-of-war between Palworld developer Pocketpair and Nintendo, the Japan Patent Office has thrown a spanner in the works by rejecting a patent application filed by the gaming giant.

According to a recently unveiled notification, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) has dismissed Nintendo's application for a 'monster capturing' patent (Application No. 2024-031879). The reasoning? A lack of originality. The JPO bluntly stated that 'a person with ordinary skill in the art could easily conceive this based on existing public technology,' making it rather difficult to classify as a groundbreaking new invention.

The JPO didn't stop there, explicitly citing Ark as a prior art case. The core of their argument is that mechanics such as aiming at an enemy character, throwing an object like a 'pod,' having a combat unit emerge from said pod, and then engaging in combat were already well-established. They even listed other titles like Monster Hunter 4, Craftopia, Kantai Collection, and Pokémon GO to bolster their stance.

Nintendo kicked off its legal offensive against Pocketpair last September, citing multiple patent infringements. To reinforce its position, the company filed for this specific patent—covering the mechanic of summoning characters to fight—back in September of this year. With this rejection, a key pillar of Nintendo's legal argument has effectively crumbled, leaving everyone wondering what their next move will be.

Nintendo now has 60 days to either submit a rebuttal or a revised proposal following this rejection notice.