Nintendo's Pokeball patent could be at the heart of its Palworld lawsuit, and judging by a 29-year-old precedent it could change monster-collecting RPGs for decades

Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair, and while there's no public confirmation of the specifics of the suit just yet, it's looking likely that a 2021 Pokeball patent could be at the heart of it. And judging by the results of the most famous patent on a video game mechanic, this one could change monster-collecting RPGs for decades.

While Palworld initially came under close scrutiny due to the similarities its creature designs shared with various Pokemon, it seems Nintendo has given up that line of attack with this patent lawsuit. If Nintendo were concerned about what Pals look like, this would likely be a copyright lawsuit. A patent lawsuit suggests that Nintendo's got exclusive rights on some game mechanic that appears in Palworld, but the publisher hasn't been specific about what those patents entail.

As Polygon reports, Nintendo filed for a patent on Pokeball mechanics back in 2021. In more technical language, it covers aiming and throwing an item to capture a character in the field, and then aiming and throwing an item to send that creature into battle. This is, of course, very similar to how you catch Pals in Palworld.

The patent appears to specifically be about throwing an item in a "virtual space" ala modern titles like Pokemon Legends: Arceus (or, again, Palworld), distinct from using that item in a turn-based battle as in the old Pokemon games. That might explain why Nintendo filed that patent in December 2021, about a month before the launch of Legends: Arceus, rather than in the preceding decades.

The patent application was ultimately granted to Nintendo in Japan in December 2023 which was, notably, one month before the launch of Palworld. The patent's status is still pending in the US, but its Japanese status is likely more important, given that Pocketpair itself is a Japanese studio.

Reiterating, because I realize this has been confusing...Nintendo and The Pokemon applied for this