US patent office revokes Nintendo's patent on summoning characters to battle
9 hours ago
- #gaming industry
- #intellectual property
- #patent law
- USPTO revokes Nintendo's patent on summoning characters for battle after a rare re-examination ordered by director John A Squires.
- Patent covered gameplay of summoning a character to fight automatically or manually; invalidated based on prior patents including ones from Konami (2002) and Nintendo (2020).
- All 26 claims rejected; Nintendo can appeal or respond within two months, potentially aiming to salvage some claims for legal use.
- Decision cites combination of prior patents (Yabe, Taura, Motokura, Shimomoto) that collectively invalidate Nintendo's claims.
- Nintendo's patent raised concerns over potential lawsuits on summoning mechanics, but patent law allows selective enforcement based on IP threats.