Nintendo and The Pokémon Company sue Palworld developer Pocketpair
Original
story:
Nintendo
has
filed
a
lawsuit
against
Palworld
developer
Pocketpair
for
infringing
“multiple
patent
rights.”
The
notice
was
published
on
Nintendo’s
website,
saying
the
lawsuit
was
filed
together
with
The
Pokémon
Company
in
the
Tokyo
District
Court
on
September
18.
The
details
are
scarce
at
this
point,
with
Nintendo
only
saying
that
it’s
seeking
“an
injunction
against
infringement
and
compensation
for
damages
on
the
grounds
that
Palworld,
a
game
developed
and
released
by
the
defendant,
infringes
multiple
patent
rights.”
It
continued:
“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.”
Palworld
released
to
impressive
success
earlier
this
year,
alongside
a
big
debate
on
whether
the
multi-million
selling
survival
game
(and
its
unofficial
tagline
of
‘Pokémon
with
guns’)
was
infringing
on
The
Pokémon
Company’s
IP.
We
talked
to
legal
experts
in
January
about
the
controversy,
who
told
us
what
we
could
learn
from
the
Pokémon
vs
Palworld
debate,
and
how
such
disputes
are
usually
resolved.
At
the
time,
Richard
Hoeg
told
us:
“Just
because
Nintendo
doesn’t
move
against
something
doesn’t
mean
it’s
not
infringing.
If
they
do,
it
doesn’t
automatically
make
them
right.”
You
can
read
the
full
article
here.
Sony
Music
Entertainment,
Aniplex,
and
Pocketpair
joined
forces
last
July
to
create
a
joint
venture
called
Palworld
Entertainment,
with
the
aim
of
continuing
Palworld’s
“global
development.”
Update:
Pocketpair
has
issued
a
statement
about
the
situation,
acknowledging
the
lawsuit
and
saying
it
“will
begin
the
appropriate
legal
proceedings
and
investigations
into
the
claims
of
patent
infringement.”
It
seems
like
the
company
has
not
been
further
informed
about
which
specific
patents
it’s
accused
of
having
infringed
upon,
saying
it’s
“not
been
notified
of
such
details.”
As
part
of
the
statement,
Pocketpair
apologised
to
its
Palworld
players
for
the
“worry
or
discomfort”
caused
by
the
situation,
adding
that
it
is
“truly
unfortunate
that
[it]
will
be
forced
to
allocate
significant
time
to
matters
unrelated
to
game
development
due
to
this
lawsuit.”
“However,
we
will
do
our
utmost
for
our
fans,
and
to
ensure
that
indie
game
developers
are
not
hindered
or
discouraged
from
pursuing
their
creative
ideas,”
it
continued.
