Nintendo Just Patented 'Summoning a Monster to Fight Another Monster,' So Everyone Else Can Fuck Off, I Guess

Just when you thought the patent system couldn't get more absurd, Nintendo has successfully claimed ownership over a gameplay idea that's been around for decades.

Credit: Pokémon-Legenden: Z-A

In its ongoing legal crusade against anything that even vaguely looks like it might compete with Pokémon, Nintendo has achieved a new level of dystopian corporate bullshit. According to a frankly shocking report from Florian Mueller at games fray, the United States Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Nintendo U.S. Patent No. 12,403,397 last week.

What does this groundbreaking patent protect, you ask? It covers the revolutionary, never-before-seen gameplay mechanic of summoning a character and letting it fight another character.

Owning an Idea

No, I'm not exaggerating. The patent, which was filed back in March 2023 and approved without a single objection from the USPTO, lays out the core loop of basically every monster-taming game in existence.

Let me break down this legal nonsense for you. The patent covers a game where you can move a player character, press a button to make a "sub character" appear, and then have that sub character either automatically fight a nearby enemy or be directed to fight one. Sound familiar? It should. It's Pokémon. It's Palworld. It's Digimon. It's a hundred other games.

The fact that the patent office looked at this and thought, "Yep, that sounds like a brand new, non-obvious invention," is a staggering indictment of the entire system.

The All-You-Can-Patent Buffet

This isn't an isolated incident. It's just the latest and most egregious move in Nintendo's "all-you-can-patent" legal strategy. This is the same company that recently secured a patent for "smooth switching of riding objects" and has been amending its Japanese patents to potentially target games like the upcoming Honkai: Nexus Anima.

This isn't about protecting innovation. This is "lawfare." It's about creating a minefield of "legal pollution" designed to scare off or sue any competitor that gets too close.

A Chilling Effect on the Entire Industry

While the immediate target is obviously Palworld, this patent is a threat to the entire games industry. It gives Nintendo a legal cudgel to swing at anyone who dares to create a game that involves summoning a companion to fight for you. It's a fundamental threat to creativity, enabled by a patent office that apparently can't be bothered to play a video game made before 2023 to find prior art.

The worst part is that this will likely trigger a legal arms race. Now, other big publishers might feel the need to start patenting every basic gameplay mechanic under the sun just to defend themselves. The future of gaming isn't new engines or better graphics; it's a hellscape of lawyers suing each other over the right to have a jump button. God help us all.