Nintendo sues Palworld maker Pocketpair for patent infringement

NINTENDO filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Tokyo-based Pocketpair, the maker of hit game Palworld, seeking an injunction and compensation for damages.

The case, brought together with affiliate Pokemon, was submitted to the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday (Sep 18), Nintendo said the following day. Nintendo did not detail which patents it believed were infringed by the game, nor the scale of the relief it seeks.

Palworld was an instant success upon its debut in January, raising the profile of its creator Pocketpair and earning the moniker “Pokemon with guns” among fans, who saw similarities between the fantastical monsters in the game and those in Nintendo’s famed franchise. Patent protection in software typically covers elements of the user experience – rather than the look of characters – and Nintendo may have found gameplay mechanics that it believes infringe on its rights.

“Nintendo filing this lawsuit for patent infringement, not copyright violation, means it has given up making the case that Palworld’s characters are similar to Pokemon’s,” said Toyo Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda. “But it shows Nintendo has more ways to stop games it does not like. The company owns a lot of patents related to basic game mechanics that are used in many titles available today.”

The lawsuit came as a surprise after Nintendo and Pokemon Co had remained largely silent on the issue for months, though Pokemon Co had warned that it has not approved any use of its IP for Palworld and would take action if necessary. The game got full-fledged support from Microsoft in its initial distribution and Pocketpair also teamed up with Sony Group to sell related merchandise. Pocketpair was not immediately available for comment.

“Nintendo will continue to take necessary actions against any infringement of its intellectual property rights including the Nintendo brand itself, to protect the intellectual properties it has worked hard to establish over the years,” the company said. BLOOMBERG