Nintendo’s summoning characters to have them battle patent hit with potential roadblock

A couple of months ago, we heard about a new patent in the U.S. in which Nintendo involving summoning characters to have them battle. However, the filing has now been hit with a potential roadblock.

According to a new report, USPTO Director John A. Squires has ordered a reexamination of U.S. Patent No. 12,403,397. Squires believes it’s necessary given two previous patents – one from Konami in 2002 and another actually coming from Nintendo in 2019 (published in 2020). Those prior art references “teaches a player being allowed to perform a battle in a manual mode and in a simpler, automatic mode.” Squires says it was “determined that substantial new questions of patentability have arisen”.

Something like this doesn’t happen very often. You have to go back to 2012 that a Director Initiated Order of an Ex Parte Reexamination was initiated. USPTO may have felt another look was necessary following online backlash – some believe it’s going too far to patent what Nintendo has requested, especially as it’s a common element in other video games.

Games Fray, which reported don the latest development, notes that a reexamination order is not a revocation order. Patents can also still be upheld following director-initiated reexaminations. Still, Nintendo’s ‘397 patent may very well be revoked. Nintendo currently has two months to respond to the order, and third-parties can bring their own challenges.

We’ll let you know if there are any other developments concerning the patent. In the meantime, check out our original report on it here.