Companies file patents all the time that they don't use for years, decades, or even ever. If that were true, we would all have Walt Disney dolphin phones, but we don't. They just file patents in the event they decide to pursue that idea or to make money from when someone else tries to do so.
We have no idea what this is yet. A console that is digital only is 99% likely to be a no-go for me, and just as likely to fail miserably. I sincerely doubt this is Nintendo's next console.
Also the idea of them moving to cartridges of some sort seems highly unlikely, considering that alienated them so badly with the N64 vs. Playstation. SquareEnix has expressed interest in porting Final Fantasy XV to the NX (whatever that may be, new console or not), and if that is supposed to be this digital only console, or cartridge based console, then that just doesn't make sense. No way is Final Fantasy XV fitting on a cartridge, and that's something SE would have known in advance of making that statement.