Pocketpair Shares Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s Palworld Lawsuit Lawsuits

Palworld developer Pocketpair has shared more details of the lawsuit it faces from both Nintendo and The Pokémon Company over alleged similarities between the latter’s titular franchise and its own monster-based survival game.

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company first filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair on September 19, eight months after Palworld’s release, alleging that the title infringed multiple patent rights.

Details of which patents were not shared, but now Pocketpair has specified the three patents it is accused of infringing through a post on its website.

The company also reported that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are seeking an injunction against Palworld, as well as payment of at least ¥5 million ($33,683) plus damages for late payments to each company.

Pocketpair intends to defend its game by stating: “We will continue to assert our position in this case through future legal proceedings.”

As previously speculated by media and legal experts, including MBHB associate Andrew Velzen, in an analysis for GameIndustry.biz – the patents in question are:

• JP7545191, which refers to a system for using capture elements that can capture characters found in a virtual space.
• JP7493117, which refers to a targeting system for deploying said capture elements.
• JP7528390, which refers to a system for mountable characters.

The Pocketpair post reports that all of these were requested and registered after Palworld first launched on January 19, 2024, as Velzen noted in his article for GameIndustry.biz.

Velzen added that Nintendo has also applied for homologous patents in the US, although some were filed as early as September 2022.

In his article, he noted that the outcome of this case could have significant repercussions for the video game industry.

“In recent years, the video game industry has moved somewhat away from patents, especially for game features,” he wrote. “However, if Nintendo is successful here, perhaps this paradigm could be in doubt.”