Bandai Namco Tops Patent Deterrence Power Ranking for 2025
The ranking quantifies which Japanese game companies hold the most legally potent patent portfolios, giving them leverage to block competitors from securing similar intellectual property.
Reporting from 2 sources: Game Spark, GameBusiness.jp.
Patent Result has released its Deterrence Power Ranking 2025 for the game and entertainment industry, tallying how often each company's patents were cited as reasons for rejection in other companies' patent examinations during 2025. Bandai Namco Entertainment leads the ranking with 328 patents cited, followed by Konami Digital Entertainment with 285 and Sony Interactive Entertainment with 228. Sega ranks fourth with 198, Nintendo fifth with 161, and Colopl sixth with 148. GREE Holdings, Capcom, Square Enix Holdings, and DeNA round out the top ten. The ranking consolidates company groups and reflects patent holders as of May 2026. Bandai Namco's most cited patent covers an event presentation control system for virtual three-dimensional spaces, cited in examinations of four applications including one from MIXI. Konami's top patent grants benefits according to object selection in a game, affecting Capcom, Colopl, and Bandai Namco. SIE's most cited patent assigns virtual reality spectators to venue seats and transmits to head-mounted displays, used in four rejections including one from NTT Communications.
Patent Result's Deterrence Power Ranking 2025 measures the number of times each company's patents were cited as prior art during the patent examination process, effectively showing which firms hold the strongest blocking power over competitors' applications. Bandai Namco's top-ranked patent, an event presentation control system for virtual 3D spaces, was cited in examinations involving MIXI, Capcom, Colopl, and Tencent Technology. Konami's leading patent, a program that grants benefits based on object selection, affected Capcom, Colopl, and Bandai Namco. SIE's virtual reality spectator system was cited in rejections for NTT Communications, Sony Group, Capcom, and Canon. Sega's most cited patent covers display switching technology for safety in location-based games, while Nintendo's top patent detects sleep states and links with games. The ranking aggregates corporate groups and uses patent holder data as of May 2026, meaning company names may differ from those at the time of original filing.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Game Spark ゲーム・エンタメ特許の「他社牽制力」ランキング、バンダイナムコが首位—コナミ・SIEが続く
- GameBusiness.jp ゲーム・エンタメ特許の「他社牽制力」ランキング、バンダイナムコが首位—コナミ・SIEが続く