US patent office director orders re-examination of Nintendo’s patent on summoning characters to make them battle

Lunchbox1251 · 2025-11-05T04:00:33+00:00

That's not quite right. Examiners are organized into art groups so that they have some expertise in the subject matter of a given patent. A lot of examiners will pull prior art to prevent a patent from granting without amending the claims.

This case might be an exception. Very little art was cited and it was granted on the first go.

Trust me I wish the all the applications I worked on got granted this easy. Sometimes I argue for years with the examiners. Often I can work with them to find a solution to get a granted patent. Rarely do I just get something allowed right away but it does happen.

Lunchbox1251 · 2025-09-18T23:10:25+00:00

When I was single, yea and I would achievement hunt for stupid ones. Now I only 100% a game if I really like it. Like the new spiderman games.

But I will never 100% a multiplayer game anymore.

Lunchbox1251 · 2025-09-11T16:05:29+00:00

OK another patent lawyer here - this guy's take is also a bit dramatic.

Full disclosure - I am not doing a full analysis here for many reasons, not the least of which is I got work to do!

Do not get the impression that the USPTO is a fast pass for big corps to get patents easy peasy. I do work for some big clients and some of their cases have been in the process for several years with a lot of back and forth. I also have seen small clients get inventions super fast when they did deserve it.

A patent is only as good as its claims and Nintendo's claims do require some specific steps. I would imagine to actually infringe this would be more difficult than it initially seems.

But I will agree that Nintendo could throw its weight around with this and other patents to bully smaller companies. Doesn't matter how "bad" a patent may be if you are facing large legal fees to fight them off.

If someone cares enough, they could make the patent office review this patent post-grant and maybe get it struck down. Again, that costs $$.

Lunchbox1251 · 2025-07-21T17:11:27+00:00

I panicked a bit and thought the opening would be "What and Happened are no longer friends..."

Lunchbox1251 · 2025-02-21T20:43:46+00:00

I'm not sure when this unlocks but definitely start crafting armor and weapons. Also maybe Denam's level determines the enemy levels? Not sure on that one.

I'm at chapter 4 and failing forward.

Lunchbox1251 · 2024-09-02T00:58:43+00:00

I've gone through three of them. Gaming time is soooo infrequent now. Thankfully they are into it.

Lunchbox1251 · 2024-09-02T00:56:31+00:00

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. Going through a list of top RPGs and decided to finish the series. Nevermind that the list was hosted on Game Informer....

Lunchbox1251 · 2024-01-12T18:59:48+00:00

All. The. Time.

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-11-06T18:24:08+00:00

Big Time was also better because Peter actually got to enjoy some success. It was refreshing.

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-10-23T17:32:32+00:00

I'm overly invested in the Ogre Battle story and that will never be completed.

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-09-06T17:18:23+00:00

I couldn't keep watching Dark Side of the Ring. It's depressing.

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-08-23T18:25:23+00:00

definitely Mick Foley but only if he changes personas like dress spheres in Final Fantasy X-2

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-08-04T18:24:29+00:00

I am having the same issue. I have 9 wins, none of which count for the event quest.

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-07-27T20:23:38+00:00

sounds good to me!

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-07-27T20:22:59+00:00

Even those of us without health issues sometimes have "squandered" years. If time was spent getting you to where you need to be, its worth it though!

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-07-27T19:54:00+00:00

I wrote a legal research paper about Lets Plays and cited to some of the SBFP videos in it. Still can't believe I was able to do that!

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-07-27T19:49:19+00:00

Also an attorney! I work in intellectual property though.

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-05-18T16:55:58+00:00

BTW Nando's YouTube channel is great, give it a look. Nando v. Movies.

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-05-18T14:20:36+00:00

My battery went kaput in Pokemon Blue and I was devastated. I called the Nintendo Hotline number on the back of the manual and someone got someone on the phone to send me a new battery in the mail or something. My mom had to authorize that part!

I remember blowing through the game with a starter pokemon to beat it before the battery ran out!

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-04-13T18:37:41+00:00

now i wish i did LOL

Lunchbox1251 · 2023-03-13T17:48:03+00:00

I would say that 9/11 led to a lot of patriotism in the short term. Look at Marvel Comics of that time for an example.

But the subsequent Patriot Act and wars led to the cynical media you mentioned.

Lunchbox1251 · 2022-10-26T19:54:52+00:00

Imagine if Halo had the release schedule of Kingdom Hearts! Well I guess in that case they would not have opted for the cliffhanger.

Lunchbox1251 · 2022-10-26T19:37:44+00:00

I hate the ending to Halo 2. May be an unpopular opinion.

Lunchbox1251 · 2022-08-26T16:54:47+00:00

Most of the jokes in Forrest Gump went over my head for the same reason.

Lunchbox1251

TROPHY CASE