The refusal of Nintendo patent application 2024-031879 does not decide the Palworld lawsuit or automatically invalidate any patent Nintendo already holds. The application’s current prosecution status is not established by the available reporting. A separate, later touchscreen application, 2026-019762, was refused in July 2026 and was reportedly appealed in September; that is a different proceeding.
Which Nintendo application was refused?
The title-matching report, published by Windows Central on 29 October 2025, concerns Japanese application 2024-031879. It described a refusal based on lack of inventive step and discussed the application’s relationship to a family that includes granted patents cited in the Palworld lawsuit. Its account of possible next steps reflects the situation as reported in 2025, not a verified current status.
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A later application, 2026-019762, is touchscreen-focused and must not be confused with 2024-031879. The European Commission’s European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency reported that the Japan Patent Office (JPO) refused 2026-019762 in a decision dated 7 July 2026, following an April notice of reasons for refusal and the applicants’ response. A Japanese industry report says Nintendo and The Pokémon Company requested an appeal on 3 September 2026.
| Track | What is known | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Application 2024-031879 | Named in the October 2025 Windows Central report; refusal reported on inventive-step grounds. Its current prosecution outcome is not established by the cited reporting. | Whether it was later granted, abandoned, or appealed. |
| Application 2026-019762 | Touchscreen-focused; reported refused on 7 July 2026, with an appeal request reportedly filed on 3 September 2026. | The status of 2024-031879 or the outcome of the Palworld lawsuit. |
| Palworld court case | A separate infringement dispute involving granted patents. | Its outcome is not decided by either JPO refusal described here. |
What does “lacking originality” mean here?
“Lacking originality” is headline shorthand, not a finding that a game or its general idea is unoriginal. The reported ground is lack of inventive step, also described as obviousness over prior art: whether a person with relevant technical knowledge could have developed the claimed invention based on information already publicly available.
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For the later application 2026-019762, the agency’s account says the examiner considered, among other material, a 2013 gameplay video of the unofficial fan game Pokémon Generations, alongside touchscreen controls, mobile game adaptations, capturing during combat, targeting, and collection mechanics. The report says objections remained against key claims even though some claims were not objected to, preventing grant in the application’s submitted form.
The same agency account says Nintendo objected to relying on video associated with an allegedly copyright-infringing fan game and argued that the footage did not disclose internal program operation. It reports that the JPO considered publicly available information eligible as prior art regardless of possible copyright infringement, and viewed gameplay actions and narration as informative about behavior. These details are the agency’s account of the decision, rather than an independently reviewed JPO decision text.
What happens after a JPO refusal?
The JPO’s general patent procedure allows an applicant who receives a notice of reasons for refusal to argue that the invention differs from the cited prior art or amend the claims to address the objections. If the examiner concludes the objections remain, the JPO may issue a refusal decision; the applicant may then appeal. The JPO explains this process on its patent procedure page.
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For 2026-019762, the September 2026 appeal filing is reported by GameBusiness.jp, which says it checked the J-PlatPat record. The report describes possible appeal-stage outcomes as cancellation of the refusal, reconsideration after amendment, or a decision maintaining the refusal. It also says the appeal request asks for further reasoning and an opportunity to amend if refusal grounds remain. These are reported procedural possibilities and applicant requests, not evidence that the appeal has succeeded.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesWIPO’s overview of the Japanese patent system says an appeal against an examiner’s refusal may be requested within three months after service of the certified decision, or four months for a party residing outside Japan. The relevant deadline depends on service and party circumstances, so the official notice and counsel should be consulted for a specific case.
For 2024-031879, the response and appeal discussion in the 2025 report is historical. The sources cited here do not establish its current prosecution status, so the later appeal reported for 2026-019762 should not be attributed to it.
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Does this change the Palworld lawsuit?
No automatic change follows. Patent examination at the JPO and an infringement case in the Tokyo District Court are separate legal processes. The European Commission agency report expressly distinguishes the 2026-019762 refusal from the granted patents considered by the court: refusing a pending application does not itself revoke those patents or decide whether Palworld infringes them.
The reported relationship between 2024-031879 and granted patents in the same family may provide context or support an argument in litigation, but it is not itself a court ruling on the scope or validity of another patent. The court case must be assessed on its own record and relevant defenses.
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