this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2025
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If only necromancy were real. They could summon and battle Gygax in court.

I don't know what went wrong that such a patent was granted. I absolutely loathe IP people.

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[–] very_well_lost@lemmy.world 77 points 9 hours ago (4 children)

Shouldn't it be trivially easy to demonstrate "prior art" in this case, making the patent invalid? I guess that requires someone to get into a legal battle with Nintendo... but it's not like this is some niche mechanic. Surely there are other entertainment megacorps who are currently in violation of this "patent" and do have the resources to fight it in court.

[–] moody 32 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Patent laws in Japan don't work the same way as they do in most of the world. And they can only enforce their patent on companies operating in Japan.

The whole Palworld situation was based on patents that Nintendo only applied for after Palworld was already released.

[–] beetus@lemmy.world 19 points 6 hours ago

This patent was granted in the US.

[–] MrGabr@ttrpg.network 14 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

In the US, yes. In Japan, it would appear such a concept does not exist.

[–] zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

They were granted the patent in the US in this case.

[–] MrGabr@ttrpg.network 8 points 6 hours ago

Indeed. The sources I've read seem to lay blame with games not usually patenting mechanics (which apparently is all patent officers look at for prior art, not other games), meaning it needs active challenging to be thrown out.

PocketPair is based in Japan, which is where the previous, more directly problematic patents have been filed mid-litigation. While there is clearly prior art for the US patent, it isn't quite as comically broad as the Japan ones, and since Japan doesn't seem to care about prior art, those remain the most concerning to me.

[–] Battle_Masker@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

My first instinct is Activision. They got Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, Skylanders, and to a lesser extent Sekiro

[–] very_well_lost@lemmy.world 3 points 7 hours ago

Yeah, Activision was my first thought as well.

[–] Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 8 hours ago

They'll ask Nintendo for use and they'll pay for it