By Jon Scarr
Nintendo has secured Japanese Patent 7914698 for a game system that closely mirrors The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and its defining Echo mechanic. Published as a granted B2 patent on September 2, 2026, it covers simulated versions of objects and enemies that can be made available and summoned into the field, including enemy copies that fight as allies.
The grant stands out because the resemblance goes well beyond a broad copying or summoning mechanic. The system also uses appearance costs to control which copies can exist together, while two of the patent’s named inventors, Tomomi Sano and Satoshi Terada, were directors on Echoes of Wisdom.
This isn’t a newly revealed Zelda mechanic. The underlying Japanese application was published in July 2025, with its U.S. family publication appearing days earlier. What’s new on September 2 is the publication of Nintendo’s granted Japanese patent, putting an examined set of claims around a system that closely matches mechanics already used in Echoes of Wisdom.
For another recent example, we also covered a Nintendo patent detailing a regional weather system similar to Mario Kart World.
The Patent Turns Encountered Objects and Enemies Into Usable Copies
The system separates ordinary objects and enemies in the field from simulated versions that can be used by the controlled character. These copies can share part of the original object’s appearance or behaviour while still looking visually different.
Making a simulated object available and bringing it into the field are separate steps. One action on an object makes its corresponding simulated version available. A separate action then brings the selected copy into the field. With enemies, the detailed example has the enemy defeated before its simulated version can be unlocked.
Once summoned, simulated enemies can operate automatically as allies and attack hostile enemies. Each simulated object can also have an appearance cost. An overall limit controls how many can remain in the field at once.
The selection system is detailed too. One interface presents a quick row of icons, while a larger catalogue-style screen offers another way to choose a simulated object.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Match Is Unusually Specific
Nintendo describes Echoes of Wisdom in remarkably similar terms. Princess Zelda uses the Tri Rod to create echoes, which are imitations of objects and monsters she finds throughout Hyrule. Once learned, those echoes can be recreated, while monster echoes can fight at Zelda’s side.
The similarities go well beyond the broad idea of summoning companions. Nintendo’s own tips describe more than 100 echoes, quick inventory access, sorting by cost, and Tri’s floating triangles showing available power.
Patent 7914698 also uses cost indicators and a remaining-cost limit. If there isn’t enough capacity for another simulated object, an older one can be removed to make room.
There are other familiar details. The patent covers both top-down and side-view fields, with the simulated objects functioning across both perspectives. It also describes a temporary mode where the controlled character attacks directly while previously summoned copies continue acting automatically.
Echoes of Wisdom uses those same two viewpoints and gives Zelda the limited Swordfighter Form.
Two Patent Inventors Worked on Echoes of Wisdom
Five inventors are listed on Patent 7914698, including Tomomi Sano and Satoshi Terada. Both also appear throughout Nintendo’s official Ask the Developer discussion for Echoes of Wisdom.
Sano was the director from Nintendo’s side, while Terada directed the game at Grezzo. They discussed several of the same design problems covered by the patent.
The development team had to make echoes work across top-down and side-view areas. They also balanced enemies knowing those same creatures could later become Zelda’s allies. Nintendo even discussed adjusting monster echoes so they would attack quickly after being created.
That overlap strengthens the connection, but it doesn’t establish that Nintendo or the Japanese Patent Office legally identifies Patent 7914698 as an Echoes of Wisdom patent.
The September 2 grant also isn’t evidence of DLC, a sequel, a Nintendo Switch 2 version, or another future Zelda game. What it provides is a granted set of claims around a system publicly disclosed in 2025 that closely mirrors mechanics Nintendo already shipped in Echoes of Wisdom.
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