What you need to know
- Pocketpair, the developers of Palworld, are being sued by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for patent infringement following speculation that the 'Pals' resemble Pokémon.
- Today, Pocketpair issued a statement to fans, responding to the news and expressing regret for the time this will take away from development.
- Additionally, they claim they are unaware of the specific patents they are accused of infringing.
Hot off the back of news that Nintendo and The Pokemon Company will sue Pocketpair, developers of Palworld, for patent infringement — Pocketpair has responded.
In a blog post the statement, titled 'Regarding the Lawsuit' expresses regret over the time this lawsuit will take away from game development for Palworld, as well as Pocketpair not being aware of exactly what patents they are being accused of infringing. Here's the full statement:
"Yesterday, a lawsuit was filed against our company for patent infringement.
We have received notice of this lawsuit and will begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the claims of patent infringement.
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.
Pocketpair is a small indie game company based in Tokyo. Our goal as a company has always been to create fun games. We will continue to pursue this goal because we know that our games bring joy to millions of gamers around the world. Palworld was a surprise success this year, both for gamers and for us. We were blown away by the amazing response to the game and have been working hard to make it even better for our fans. We will continue improving Palworld and strive to create a game that our fans can be proud of.
It is truly unfortunate that we 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.
We apologize to our fans and supporters for any worry or discomfort that this news has caused.
As always, thank you for your continued support of Palworld and Pocketpair."
An outpour of support from Palworld fans
The blogpost, which was also shared on X, has been reposted by 'Bucky', Palworld's community manager with a thanks to fans for their kind words and messages.
Regarding the LawsuitYesterday, a lawsuit was filed against our company for patent infringement.We have received notice of this lawsuit and will begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the claims of patent infringement.At this moment, we are unaware…September 19, 2024
Fan response has been overwhelmingly supporting of Pocketpair, as this lawsuit is shaping up to be a David vs Goliath kind of situation. Many have shared other games that can bear resemblence to the Pokemon world, such as Dragon Quest.
So apparently Nintendo is suing Palworld now. This is my opinion and only my opinion.First, Pokemon players are not leaving to play Palworld. It’s an entirely different type of “mon” game. I love both but for completely different reasons. Second, this is extremely… pic.twitter.com/1tAcOTjEhuSeptember 19, 2024
Business lawyer Richard Hoeg who many look to for takes on gaming industry litigation has even commented on the situation
Probably going to need more specifics before I can comment more completely, but Palworld is such a different type of game from Pokémon, it’s hard to imagine what patents (*not* copyrights) might have been even plausibly infringed. Initial gut reaction is Nintendo may be reaching. https://t.co/3L2D5EZ7hhSeptember 18, 2024
Most responses have been utter confusion on why Nintendo is raising the lawsuit now and didn't do this when Palworld initially launched into Early Access and became the biggest third-party launch ever on Xbox Game Pass, or even back when Palworld trailers were revealed back in 2021. The Pokemon Company did make a statement earlier this year, though, not mentioning Palworld by name:
"We have received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024. We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game. 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."
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What are Nintendo suing Pocketpair for?
In an interview with Automaton, Palworld developer Takuro Mizobe addressed legal issues with the likeness of 'Pals' to Pokemon, and said that if anything the game more closely resembled ARK: Survival. Speaking on similarities Mizobe noted that he was a big fan and admirer of the Pokemon franchise and being "scared to compare it to Palworld" because of how good the games are.
Mizobe also noted in the interview that Palworld was developed with respect to other companies' intellectual propery, and had cleared legal reviews with no issue. So what is happening now? Why are Nintendo suing?
Well, the key is in the phrasing; Nintendo has specifically used the term 'patent infringement,' not 'copyright infringement.' In an article for Bloomberg, behind a paywall but can be seen here on Yahoo Finance, Toyo Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda had this to say, “Nintendo filing this lawsuit for patent infringement, not copyright violation, means it has given up making the case that Palworld’s characters are similar to Pokémon’s,” Yasuda continues, “But it shows Nintendo has more ways to stop games it doesn’t like. The company owns a lot of patents related to basic game mechanics that are used in many titles available today.”
More clues are held in Nintendo's recently submitted patents, including this particular submission to patent the mechanic of throwing an item to catch a monster.
If I'm reading this correctly, here is a Nintendo patent from 2021 for a video game character throwing an item to catch a monster while out in the field https://t.co/7Dvicj2lnc pic.twitter.com/rM6Ak45K0kSeptember 19, 2024
The above patent is registered to Nintendo and The Pokemon Company and was considered valid and registered in 2023. Though this is pure speculation thus far until Nintendo confirm.
So right now, we, and by the looks of it, Pocketpair, have no idea what the lawsuit will accuse Palworld of infringing. But watch this space!
