Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against the developers of Palworld, Pocket Pair, for patent infringement. We asked two lawyers what this exactly means.
What is the lawsuit about? On September 18, the Pokémon holder Nintendo filed a lawsuit against the Palworld developers. The lawsuit claims patent infringement and seeks an injunction and damages.
Nintendo is known for taking a hard stance against violations of property rights, particularly with fan projects. Many anticipated this lawsuit. It is rather surprising that it is only coming now. Palworld launched into a very successful Early Access on Xbox and Steam on January 19, 2024.
How fans are reacting: Many online, especially on X, are siding with Pocket Pair, which is successful and popular compared to many other games that leverage the Pokémon formula. Some users even go so far as to say “The world is hoping you lose”.
The situation may also be heated because the last official Pokémon games caused a lot of disappointment. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were criticized for their poor performance and frame rate drops.
No copyright claim?
This is what the lawyers say: In response to an inquiry from MeinMMO, Vanessa and Chan-Jo from the law firm Jun discussed what this lawsuit means now and how successful it could be.
It could be that they consciously chose not to invoke copyright but patent law because they may not see a copyright claim, as the different assets might not be that similar after all.
Chan-Jo
Whether the monsters in Palworld look too similar to Pokémon has been the subject of many discussions in recent months. Several months ago, Reddit users made meticulous comparisons.
Chan-Jo continues:
What is not protected is the idea of hunting monsters. […] I am certainly allowed to release a game based on the idea of Pokémon, as long as I do not infringe copyright or patent rights.
That you try to become the very best (like no one ever was) in both Pokémon and Palworld or encounter monsters does not infringe any rights. So where exactly does Nintendo see its rights being violated?
Fights as a point of attack?
The question is, for what things and functions has Nintendo acquired a patent. The list available on the internet is long.
The lawyers Chan-Jo and Vanessa say that something can only be patented if it has a technicality and a novelty.
What is present in every game cannot be protected as a patent.
This means: That monsters fight each other cannot be patented. What Nintendo has patented is the way Pokémon battles take place and how they look, for example, regarding status changes in battle.
Whether the battles in Palworld, where monsters also experience status changes, are a possible point of attack cannot be conclusively evaluated by the two.
However, it is important to mention that a patent infringement can also be pursued even if the developers were unaware of the patent.
What does the injunction mean?
Nintendo has also applied for an injunction in Japan, where they filed the lawsuit. This means that “an urgent judicial decision is quickly brought about if it is sufficiently likely that there is a legal infringement and the urgency is present,” says Chan-Jo.
In Germany, if this has been known for a year, one would say, “Hey, if this is so urgent, you should have filed the application eleven months ago.” In other countries, the urgency is interpreted somewhat differently.
What happens next? “Basically, patent law always seems territorial – that is, only in that country. However, if [Nintendo] were to win in Japan, they would file the same lawsuit elsewhere or reach a quick settlement,” explains Chan-Jo.
This means that wherever Nintendo has registered the patents and where Palworld is available, they could sue for patent infringement. Additionally, a significant amount of damages would accumulate should Nintendo be successful with their lawsuit.
It is also quite possible that Nintendo and Pocket Pair could agree on a payment before Nintendo pursues multiple lawsuits in different countries against Pocket Pair.
You can watch the full assessment by Vanessa and Chan-Jo on GameStar Talk.
