Nintendo recently filed a patent for a trading card set that uses amiibo tech. Although the company has yet to announce what this patent is for exactly, one obvious assumption is that Nintendo is tinkering with the idea of making a series of Pokémon cards that interact with the Nintendo 3DS, but the patent images of characters named John, Beth and Mike suggest otherwise. They could instead be related to an unannounced Animal Crossing project.
Source: Digital Trends