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NEWS: Palworld Developer Pocketpair Reveals 3 Patents Involved in Nintendo, The Pokémon Company's In

Palworld came out way before Nintendo even filed a patent for the whole monster catching ball, so good luck with that one. Would've had a better case going after the Pal designs.

It's a very dull read but the patent that "centers on riding" talks about stuff like being able to summon a flying mount while falling mid-air... and i wonder, is that actually a common mechanic? Obviously flying mounts are a thing in many games but the specifics described are the stuff being patented not the general concept of a mount (flying or otherwise). Patents are inherently pedantic. Same with the capture mechanic, the patent isn't talking about the concept of capturing with a ball shaped object but specifically the various switching in poses and aiming involved. Anyone whose played Legends Arceus should know what i mean. I think it's llike how you can't patent the concept of a shooting game but different shooters are mechanicaly different in how feel to shoot?

Hal14 wrote:

It's a very dull read but the patent that "centers on riding" talks about stuff like being able to summon a flying mount while falling mid-air... and i wonder, is that actually a common mechanic? Obviously flying mounts are a thing in many games but the specifics described are the stuff being patented not the general concept of a mount (flying or otherwise). Patents are inherently pedantic. Same with the capture mechanic, the patent isn't talking about the concept of capturing with a ball shaped object but specifically the various switching in poses and aiming involved. Anyone whose played Legends Arceus should know what i mean. I think it's llike how you can't patent the concept of a shooting game but different shooters are mechanicaly different in how feel to shoot?

Palworld allows you to use certain pals as an alternative to a glider, which I believe is a thing in Ark too. They're (un)summoned by jumping in mid-air.
Behaves like a glider/parachute would. 1 pal acts like a balloon instead.

You can summon any pal in mid-air, you don't immediately mount them though.
You are able to mount them in air while falling, but they behave similar to any other mount in that they need to be next to you and interacted with.

Don't know how that compares to Pokémon.


(Thanks for the patent explanation btw.)

Smashingrascal wrote:

Hal14 wrote: It's a very dull read but the patent that "centers on riding" talks about stuff like being able to summon a flying mount while falling mid-air... and i wonder, is that actually a common mechanic? Obviously flying mounts are a thing in many games but the specifics described are the stuff being patented not the general concept of a mount (flying or otherwise). Patents are inherently pedantic. Same with the capture mechanic, the patent isn't talking about the concept of capturing with a ball shaped object but specifically the various switching in poses and aiming involved. Anyone whose played Legends Arceus should know what i mean. I think it's llike how you can't patent the concept of a shooting game but different shooters are mechanicaly different in how feel to shoot? Palworld allows you to use certain pals as an alternative to a glider, which I believe is a thing in Ark too. They're (un)summoned by jumping in mid-air. Behaves like a glider/parachute would. 1 pal acts like a balloon instead. You are able to mount them in air while falling, but they behave similar to any other mount in that they need to be next to you and interacted with. Don't know how that compares to Pokémon. (Thanks for the patent explanation btw.)

I might check a clip online but if it behaves like a glider that sounds similar to how it operates in Pokemon Legends (To be clear, i'm not saying pokemon patented gliders). Follow-up question: Is there any lift (like you being pushed upwards) when you select these flying/glider mounts on the ground?

The first target patent, Patent No. 7545191, relates to aiming an object towards a character. In other words, it refers to aiming a Pokéball at a Pokémon to initiate combat.

The second patent, Patent No. 7493117, involves catching a character, specifically creature, in a field setting.

The third relevant patent is Patent No. 7528390, which centers on riding the creatures.

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The first target patent, Patent No. 7545191, relates to aiming an object towards a character. In other words, it refers to aiming a Pokéball at a Pokémon to initiate combat.

I'm pretty sure other games have done this, like throwing a rock to start combat. Anyone being hit by a rock or similar sized object will more than likely start a fight over it. I would like to also point out that even Square-Enix has taken a chance at something like this with their Prismariums back in 2016.

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The second patent, Patent No. 7493117, involves catching a character, specifically creature, in a field setting.

"Field setting" seems vague. Does this mean by simply walking up to them and interacting with them? If so, that's existed since the advent of RPGs video games. Maybe the key word is "catching" vs "recruiting"?

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The third relevant patent is Patent No. 7528390, which centers on riding the creatures.

Mounts have been around before and during other generations of Pokemon. If this was really the case, World of Warcraft and many other MMOs would be in violation of this. It seems too broad.

Palworld came out way before Nintendo even filed a patent for the whole monster catching ball, so good luck with that one. Would've had a better case going after the Pal designs.

Game mechanics never should have been patentable.

Florete wrote:

Game mechanics never should have been patentable.

Hard agree! It severely undercuts creativity, and strangles good ideas in the crib.