By Sam Sepiol
Copyright insider-gaming
Nintendo has recently acquired a new patent for summoning a character and letting it fight another, as its Palworld lawsuit continues.
During this Nintendo v Palworld lawsuit, we have seen the former acquire and modify several patents. In July 2025, one of its patent claims regarding smooth switching between flying and riding objects was modified. Nintendo had also acquired two more anti-Palworld patents a few months before this.
Nintendo’s New Patent Could Impact Every Game that Features Summoning Characters and Letting Them Fight Each Other
Spotted by GameRant, Games Fray’s new report reveals that Nintendo now owns U.S. Patent No. 12,409,387, which is related to “smooth switching or riding objects.” Additionally, a week ago, Nintendo was granted U.S. Patent No. 12,403,397, which is related to summoning characters and allowing them to engage in combat against one another. The first patent could impact Pocketpair if they win the lawsuit against Nintendo in Japan and want to revert to their previous smooth switching of the riding feature, as the patent would be in effect in the United States.
The company was able to acquire it without any hiccups. It was applied for in March 2023, granted in July 2025, and issued last week. The new patent that Nintendo has acquired could pose a problem not only for Palworld but also for any other game that features or will feature character summons that fight each other. Nintendo’s new patent comprises six claims; check them out below:
The first one states that there should be a PC, console, or any other computing device for the game to run on.
Secondly, players should be able to move a character in a virtual space.
The subsequent claim states that the first character should be able to summon a sub-character, similar to how Pokémon are summoned.
The fourth claim talks about summoning this sub-character in a space where there is another character, and they are instructed to fight.
The fifth claim describes a different scenario in which the player can summon a sub-character in a space with no enemy characters to fight.
The final claim talks about an automatic battle being triggered when the sub-character walks in the direction of another character
In other news, Nintendo recently updated its detachable dual-screen patent. What are your thoughts on Nintendo’s new patent on character summons? Let us know through the official Insider Gaming forums discussion.
For more information from Insider Gaming, read about Resident Evil Requiem and other RE Engine games reportedly coming to the Switch 2. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
