Nintendo faced an unexpectedly harsh backlash from the Japan Patent Office. The company tried to register a patent for monster capture mechanics, but was refused due to lack of "inventiveness".
The sticking point was a fan video for Pokémon Generations, which JPO experts used as proof that such mechanics existed before. Nintendo tried to challenge the decision, saying that the agency incorrectly referred to "pirate" content and also demanded in documents to replace character names with phrases such as "an object violating Pikachu’s rights."
The JPO’s response was dry and uncompromising: the agency emphasized that copyright status does not affect the assessment of technology’s novelty, and Nintendo’s attempts to complicate terminology only create "cumbersome descriptions" without changing the point. It seems that even the industry giant is not immune from bureaucratic principled thinking when it comes to evidence of technological progress.
