HOW DID THEY GET THESE PATENTS APPROVED SO FAST???
I have a patent from a previous job. The initial filing was in 2007. It wasn’t approved until 2010, almost a year after I had moved on to a different employer.
Your name isn’t John Nintendo, that’s how.
Did you work in Japan?
They’re ridiculous and pathetic. This will only ensure that I’ll never buy anything Nintendo, and instead buy Palworld, even if I don’t play it immediately.
game mechanics aren’t patentable?
They aren’t supposed to be but if you have enough money anything can be patentable, copyrightable, or trademarkable.
Some douche had (still has?) all the trademarks on anything Edge related to games
No, game mechanics aren’t subject to copyright law. Game mechanics can be patented in the US, so long as they’re unique and nonobvious (to someone with ordinary skill in the field).
Monopoly and Magic: The Gathering both had patents on their mechanics, for example.
And of course, patents in Japan are a completely different animal than patents in the US.
They have been for the longest time, and it’s as ridiculous as it sounds.