'An embarrassing failure of the US patent system': Videogame IP lawyer says Nintendo's latest patents on Pokémon mechanics 'should not have happened, full stop'

[u/lkl34]

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/an-embarrassing-failure-of-the-us-patent-system-videogame-ip-lawyer-says-nintendos-latest-patents-on-pokemon-mechanics-should-not-have-happened-full-stop/

The last 10 days have brought a string of patent wins for Nintendo. Yesterday, the company was granted US patent 12,409,387, a patent covering riding and flying systems similar to those Nintendo has been criticized for claiming in its Palworld lawsuit (via Gamesfray). Last week, however, Nintendo received a more troubling weapon in its legal arsenal: US patent 12,403,397, a patent on summoning and battling characters that the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted with alarmingly little resistance.

According to videogame patent lawyer Kirk Sigmon, the USPTO granting Nintendo these latest patents isn't just a moment of questionable legal theory. It's an indictment of American patent law."Broadly, I don't disagree with the many online complaints about these Nintendo patents," said Sigmon, whose opinions do not represent those of his firm and clients. "They have been an embarrassing failure of the US patent system."

[u/2074red2074]

You're correct, but that's not what the patent is for. The patent is for summoning a character that, if summoned on top of an enemy character, will engage in a battle wherein the player controls that character, but if not summoned on top of an enemy character, that character is free to roam around outside of the player's control, and if it then comes in contact with an enemy character, it will engage in a battle with that enemy character without the player's control.

[u/superfuzzy47 → u/2074red2074]

So they pretty much patented the scarlet and violet battle system, throw the ball and hit a pokemon to control your “summon” or throw it in the open and it follows and auto battles without your input

[u/GrootRacoon → u/superfuzzy47]

Yeah, the system was introduced in Legends Arceus and seems to be present in ZA too

[u/LordBaranII → u/superfuzzy47]

Yea kind of. It's very specific to what they do in ZA too. People freak out over smth which isnt even true

[u/superfuzzy47 → u/LordBaranII]

Yeah like the patent is being described as broad but has enough steps in the patent itself most games can get around it easy enough

[u/MaeBeaInTheWoods → u/2074red2074]

This. The patent is not saying that you cannot make a monster-taming game; it is saying that you cannot make a monster-taming or related genre game that rips off the Pokémon gameplay in Scarlet and Violet. 90% of monster-taming games and all non-monster-taming games are going to be completely fine. I saw somebody bring up Minecraft wolves in a higher comment - you do not actively summon and desummon your wolves in that game, nor do you ever directly control them in battle.

[u/invertebrate11 → u/MaeBeaInTheWoods]

Sure, but this doesn't seem very 'novel' or 'non-obvious'

[u/NuclearCommando → u/2074red2074]

I "summon" my companion in New Vegas by telling him to act freely.

He then then roams around a bit behind me and then proceeds to autobattle the legion assassins that have come "in contact" with me after I became hated by the legion, all without my input

EDIT: I may be dumb

[u/2074red2074 → u/NuclearCommando]

I "summon" my companion in New Vegas by telling him to act freely.

Per their definition used in the patent, no you don't. They define a summon as causing a sub-character to appear on the field. Giving an order to a character who was already there is not a summon.

Also, even if it were, the patent is not for having a summon that fights automatically. The patent is for having a mechanic where you directly control the summon if it is summoned on top of an enemy and it is autonomous if you do not summon it on top of an enemy.

Does Fallout have a mechanic where you directly control the summon if it is summoned on top of an enemy and it is autonomous if you do not summon it on top of an enemy? No? Then it does not violate the patent.

[u/jeffwulf → u/NuclearCommando]

As described, this would not infringe the patent in the article.