Nintendo and The Pokémon Company File Lawsuit Against Palworld Developer Pocketpair

Earlier today, Nintendo announced that they had filed a patent infringement lawsuit in collaboration with The Pokémon Company against Palworld developer Pocketpair. This lawsuit comes almost eight months after Palworld launched in early access on Steam on January 19th. Palworld became one of the most-played and best-selling games of the year but was often criticized for the similarity many of its pal designs shared with Pokémon designs.

Here is Nintendo’s full statement, which you can also find on their website:

“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 18th, 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.”

It is not yet clear what patents have been infringed by Pocketpair but Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are notoriously litigious when it comes to their intellectual property. Earlier this year the Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu was forced to shut down and pay over two million dollars to Nintendo due to what the company called “extensive piracy.”

Pocketpair has responded to the lawsuit claiming “At this moment, we are unaware of the specific patents we are accused of infringing upon, and we have not been notified of such details.” You can read the full response on Pocketpair’s website.

For now, only time will tell what will happen next. No matter how it turns out, it will have a huge impact on the gaming industry. What would it mean if Nintendo were able to prove patent infringement? Will Palworld be forced to shut down? Will they have to make changes to the game? Will they have to pay damages? What if Pocketpair proves there was no infringement? How will Nintendo respond? Will other developers/companies feel emboldened to create their own monster-catching games? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Personally, I don’t see a positive outcome for Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. Either they win and alienate fans by taking down one of the year’s most popular indie games or they lose and not only look like fools but also invite further competition. There’s a small chance that they somehow make Pocketpair look like a villain, but it’s hard to imagine. What do you think?