Palworld developer finally reveals the reason why Nintendo and Pokémon are suing
THE silence has finally been broken on the Nintendo vs Palworld lawsuit, and it’s Palworld developer Pocketpair that has given the first statement.
Nintendo first announced that it, along with The Pokémon Company, had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair.
However, details about the lawsuit, including which patents Pocketpair had allegedly infringed, were not revealed.
According to Pocketpair, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are seeking an injunction against Palworld, preventing it from being sold, and claim a total of ¥10 million (£50k/$65k) in damages.
This is a relatively small amount of money compared to the amount that Pocketpair has made from Palworld, and in particular, for the amount of money that Pokémon generates.
Pocketpair explains that it’s being accused of violating Nintendo’s rights to Patent No. 7545191, Patent No. 7493117, and Patent No. 7528390.
All of these patents were filed in Japan between February and July 2024, which is after Palworld was released.
However, these patents all existed in some form since 2021, although they were refreshed or modified by Nintendo in 2024.
Without in-depth knowledge of the patent system in Japan, it’s difficult to determine whether Palworld has indeed infringed on these patents.
One patent appears to refer to the use of balls to capture creatures and to release them for combat.
While Palworld has a feature similar to the Poké Ball, called the Pal Sphere, it’s unclear if they are similar enough to be considered patent infringement.
The other two patents refer to the creatures’ movements, collision, and pathfinding.
It should be noted that this again affirms that the lawsuit is based on technical grounds and not copyright infringement as others have stated.
Pocketpair states it will “continue to assert our position in this case through future legal proceedings,” meaning it will fight the lawsuit in court.
Out of Pocket
While there are striking similarities between Pokémon and Palworld, the two games are completely different genres.
Pokémon is an RPG while Palworld is a survival-crafting game, but both are about catching and collecting cute creatures and using them in combat.
Players should not forget that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are two of the biggest companies in the world, and that Pocketpair is a small indie studio.
While Palworld may have drawn inspiration from Pokémon, it becomes dangerous when larger companies try to prevent smaller ones from creating games.
Most games have drawn inspiration from other artworks, and we should build each other up to create better games.
If you want to read more about Pokémon, check out how you can grab shiny Rayquaza in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet.
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