Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair – the studio known for Palworld – together with The Pokemon Company.
Those that have been keeping up with Palworld since it burst onto the scene this year may not be overly surprised by the news. The lawsuit is seeking “injunction against infringement and compensation for damages”. Nintendo and The Pokemon Company believe that Palworld “infringes multiple patent rights.”
The full announcement about the Nintendo / Pokemon lawsuit for Pocketpair and Palworld is as follows:
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.
At the start of the year, The Pokemon Company issued a statement after there was much discussion surrounding Palworld and how it closely resembles Pokemon in some aspects. While Palworld wasn’t specifically mentioned, it was clear what that response was for. The statement, which you can read in full here, mentioned that The Pokemon Company would “investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights”. Now we’re seeing the result of that, which is a lawsuit Nintendo and Pokemon are pursuing.
Since this is just happening now, it’s unclear what the end result will be. We’ll keep you updated with any further developments as they happen.
Share this:
Related
