Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair, and while there's no public confirmation of the specifics of the suit just yet, it's looking likely that a 2021 Pokeball patent could be at the heart of it. And judging by the results of the most famous patent on a video game mechanic, this one could change monster-collecting RPGs for decades.
While Palworld initially came under close scrutiny due to the similarities its creature designs shared with various Pokemon, it seems Nintendo has given up that line of attack with this patent lawsuit. If Nintendo were concerned about what Pals look like, this would likely be a copyright lawsuit. A patent lawsuit suggests that Nintendo's got exclusive rights on some game mechanic that appears in Palworld, but the publisher hasn't been specific about what those patents entail.
