Whether Nintendo will file a lawsuit has been a topic of debate for some time. Pal WorldAnd that fear paid off. This new lawsuit Pal World, pokemon's indie rival could cause serious problems for studio Pocketpair.
Nintendo is famous for filing a lot of lawsuits and has been known to take action against fan games, system modders, YouTube creators, hackers, ROM sites, and more. Thanks to this reputation, many fans Pal World Nintendo has expressed concern that they may find cause to sue the game due to its design and mechanical similarities. pokemon series.
Nintendo's Lawsuit Against Palworld Explained
On September 18, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair. Pal World “Infringes on multiple patents” (according to an official company press release). This is an important element of this case because there has long been legal precedent that game mechanics cannot be protected by copyright, e.g. Atari v. Amusement World), but can be patented. The lawsuit seeks damages for the alleged offenses along with an “injunctive relief from infringement.”
Weaponizing Nintendo's Patents Against Palworld
There have been a number of high-profile legal attacks on Nintendo, such as the following attacks on fan games:
pokemon uranium
and
AM2R
Copyright is based on the expression of ideas and mechanisms rather than the elements themselves.
Patent attorney Andrew Velzen, writing for GamesIndustry.biz, said he would be “surprised” to see Nintendo pursue the copyright aspect because, despite being similar, Pals is quite different from Pokemon. However, Nintendo is no stranger to patent litigation, with some notable lawsuits including one against mobile developer Colopl.
In an interview with Yahoo News, Japanese patent attorney Kiyoshi Kurihara narrowed down the scope of patents Nintendo and The Pokemon Company can use. Kurihara agrees that the copyright aspect is not a good fit for Nintendo, saying Pals is “close, but barely avoiding it,” but lists 28 patents that Nintendo could use.
Mr. Kurihara particularly selected patent number 7545191 as a ‘killer patent.’ To oversimplify, this is a patent for catching Pokemon with a Pokeball. According to Kurihara, the patent went through an accelerated process from July 2024 until completion.
On the other hand, some experts are less prone to panic. In an interview with Game Rant, patent analyst Florian Mueller said Nintendo will “do some damage in Japan, but probably not much outside of it.” Mueller added: Pal World “Probably infringed[s] “It cannot withstand serious court scrutiny,” he said, noting that issued patents could still be “cancelled or curtailed” by the Japan Patent Office.
Pocketpair responds to Nintendo's lawsuit
In Pocketpair's Twitter statement on the matter, the studio states how the lawsuit will cost “significant time” in the game's development. Pocketpair is also “not aware” of what specific patents it is targeting, at least for now.
