Posted in: Games, Nintendo, Pokémon, Video Games | Tagged: Palworld, Poecketpair, the pokemon company

Nintendo, The Pokémon Company Sue Palworld Dev for Patent Infringement

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have filed a patent infringement suit against Pocketpair, Inc., the makers of Palworld.

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have confirmed they are suing the creators of the game Palworld over patent infringement. The word came down from Nintendo's own website, which posted this short public notice to let people know that paperwork had been filed.

Nintendo Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto, Minami-ku, Japan; Representative Director and President: Shuntaro Furukawa, "Nintendo" hereafter), together with The Pokémon Company, filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court against Pocketpair, Inc. (HQ: 2-10-2 Higashigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, "Defendant" hereafter) on September 18, 2024. This lawsuit seeks 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. 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.

Released back in January 2024 by developer and publisher Pocketpair, the game was nicknamed by many as "Pokémon with guns" as it took what appears to be a similar premise to the iconic franchise. You run around a world filled with creatures called Pals, capture them, and then put them to work in various tasks. Many observers made comparisons between them, and in January, The Pokémon Company made a statement saying in part, "We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon. We will continue to cherish and nurture each and every Pokémon and its world, and work to bring the world together through Pokémon in the future."

Obviously, this is very early in the development of this story, as Nintendo posted that notice tonight. Paperwork for the suit has not yet been made public, nor has Pocketpair made any kind of official statement as of the time this news was written. We'll be keeping an eye on it for new developments.

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