Key Takeaways
- Nintendo dropped a bombshell a few months ago when it confirmed that it was suing Palworld over allegedly infringed patents.
- At the time, Nintendo, Pockepair, and The Pokemon Company didn’t reveal which patents were making up the lawsuit.
- That has finally changed as Pocketpair has shared details of the lawsuit and which patents are involved.
Palworld developer Pocketpair has released a statement that confirms which patents Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have accused it of infringing and are suing it over.
From the moment Palworld was first revealed, it was incredibly obvious to everyone that its Pals (which were instantly accused of copying Pokemon designs) and the way you capture and control them was taking the mick out of Pokemon. Sure, the final game does a surprising amount of things differently, but the concept as a whole was very ‘Mon-coded.
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That made it very surprising when Palworld launched earlier this year and both Nintendo and The Pokemon Company seemingly had nothing to say about it. The silence didn’t last very long, though, as Nintendo finally commented on the game a few months ago and revealed that it was suing Palworld developer Pocketpair for allegedly infringing on multiple patents.
Pocketpair Reveals Why Nintendo Is Suing Palworld
Although a lot of lawyers and experts have had theories about which patents Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are suing Palworld over, nothing official had been confirmed by any of the companies involved. That just changed today as Pocketpair released a statement on its Japanese website detailing the lawsuit and allegedly infringed patents.
The statement reveals that Pocketpair is sharing details because it has “received inquiries from various press agencies regarding the situation of the lawsuit in question”. Pocketpair goes on to say that Palworld has been claimed to infringe on three patents held by Nintendo and The Pokemon Company and that part of the damage is required as compensation.
The first patent is one that most had guessed to be part of the case, as 7545191 refers to the process of capturing and befriending Pokemon, which Palworld apes with its Pal Spheres. The other two patents that are included in the lawsuit, 7493117 and 7528390 haven’t been found and detailed just yet, but they’re likely also mechanics in Pokemon games that are replicated in Palworld.
Interestingly, most of the patents included in the lawsuit have been filed after the release of Palworld. It was previously reported that the Poke Ball patent was bookended onto an older patent, which is likely the case with all of them.
Pocketpair’s statement finally outlines the injunction for Palworld and the prices that are expected to be paid, with both Nintendo and The Pokemon Company asking for 5 million yen in “delayed” damages each. Pocketpair says that it’s going to “assert our views through future litigation procedures” and continue to update fans through its website.
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