The Japan Patent Office has officially dismissed Nintendo’s latest objection, once again confirming the rejection of a patent application regarding monster-capturing mechanics. This specific patent sits at the heart of the legal battle Nintendo initiated against Pocketpair, the developers behind Palworld.

This decision follows a notification of reasons for refusal issued by the Japan Patent Office back in April, which targeted the patent application for monster-capturing mechanics. The patent describes a system where a player throws a capturing item in a virtual space to snag a field character. Roots of this filing trace back to December 22, 2021, with Nintendo splitting the application this past February. Given its relevance to the lawsuit against Palworld, the gaming community has been watching this closely.

Back in April, the Japan Patent Office cited a lack of 'inventive step' under patent law. The office pointed to videos of a fan-made project, Pokémon Generations, which featured character movement, capturing, and summoning battles. Nintendo filed an objection, but the Japan Patent Office has now effectively doubled down on its original stance.

During the objection process, Nintendo argued that Pokémon Generations, the example provided by the patent office, was an unlicensed project infringing on Pokémon copyrights. However, the Japan Patent Office remained unmoved, clarifying that copyright infringement status is irrelevant when determining the 'inventive step' of a technology.

Nintendo further took issue with the patent office using specific terms like 'Ash,' 'Pokémon,' 'Pikachu,' and 'Bulbasaur' in the original refusal notice, suggesting the authority was treating a fan game as an official product.

To this, the patent office clarified that it was not validating the status of the game, but simply using recognizable names instead of cumbersome descriptions like 'a yellow small animal-like object' to ensure clarity. They reiterated that whether the referenced material is official or not does not alter the logic behind the rejection or the fundamental lack of technological novelty.

Finally, Nintendo claimed that the YouTube videos cited were insufficient for an examiner to grasp the specific technical construction of the mechanics. The Japan Patent Office countered that the footage provided more than enough evidence to observe how the player controls characters and items, making it sufficient for patent examination.

This patent filing was a vital pillar in Nintendo's legal strategy against Palworld. Furthermore, with similar patent applications rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this past April, the momentum in the legal standoff between Nintendo and Pocketpair seems to be slipping out of Nintendo’s favour.