New Nintendo patent application possibly targeting Palworld Mobile

Nintendo is trying to secure a touchscreen patent from the same family that is cited in an ongoing patent lawsuit against it. Palworld Developer Pocketpair. While the patent could potentially strengthen the company's case by extending its infringement claims to the upcoming mobile version. PalworldNintendo has struggled to get it approved so far.

The ongoing lawsuit, filed in September 2024, focuses on allegations by Nintendo and the Pokemon Company Palworld Infringes several of their jointly held patents covering creature-capture and mount-switching gameplay systems. Pocketpair has already changed some Palworld mechanics in response to the lawsuit via a mid-2025 update for its hit open-world survival game. Nevertheless, the case remains active, and Nintendo has continued filing activity around the patent family linked to the dispute.

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Nintendo looking at another potential anti-Palworld patent

Continuing that effort, Nintendo recently attempted to secure a touchscreen-focused patent (2026-019762) in which players control movement via touch input, use capture objects against field characters in and out of battle, and then receive a success-or-failure capture determination. Patent analyst Florian Müller said the filing, if approved, could theoretically be useful against several current and upcoming games, including the Crafton-developed mobile version. Palworld and of Tencent State of Rock: The World. The latter has been making waves in China of late, surpassing 15 million day-one players in March 2026, but has yet to debut internationally.

Despite its potential legal applications, Nintendo has so far failed to push the 2026-019762 patent over the finish line. The Japanese Patent Office recently rejected the claims again in February 2026 after the company amended the application. That renewed rejection appears to be more than a routine delay, with the examiner in charge of the case noting that the application lacked an inventive step, meaning it failed to differ sufficiently from already known public content and gameplay concepts. Key elements of the filing—touchscreen controls, the use of capture objects outside of combat, and success-or-failure checks to determine whether a creature has been acquired—were all considered an obvious combination of established ideas rather than novel inventions worthy of a patent.

Cattiva vs Pikachu Palworld vs Pokemon fighting faint crt lines on red background — A composite image featuring Cattiva from *Palworld* And from Pikachu *Pokemon* Confrontation on a red background. Faint CRT-like lines were added to the image using the color-burning blending mode.

Nintendo is free to revise its application again in response to a second rejection. It is unclear whether the company plans to do so. Another Nintendo creature-capture patent from the same family was also rejected in late 2025 on grounds of lack of originality, although the company finally received approval for a narrower version in February 2026. A similar approach can be used in this example.

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Nintendo will actually try to use this patent to their advantage Palworld The lawsuit, assuming it manages to secure it, remains unclear but admirable. The company modified one of its adversariesPalworld In July 2025 when patents are already running, an attempt to add more related rights during ongoing litigation would therefore be consistent with the current approach. Such moves are likely to further delay the court's consideration of the case, which is particularly notable given that there are currently no clear signs that PocketPair and Nintendo are any closer to a deal than they were a year ago.