Palworld developers Pocketpair has revealed finer details of the lawsuit filed against them by Pokemon-makers Nintendo, and it certainly doesn’t look suitable for the latter.
It has long been suspected that Nintendo could move to court against Pocketpair ever since Palworld was released for the first time. It finally happened earlier this year, but the details of the legal proceedings have remained hidden till today. Based on what’s been revealed by Pocketpair, they’re facing charges of potential infringements of three patents. Surprisingly, all three patents in question appear to have been filed after the game’s release.
Palworld makers Pocketpair face a stiff battle with Nintendo
As per Nintendo and The Pokemon Company, Pocketpair’s Palworld has reportedly infringed upon three patents – 7545191, 7493117, and 7528390. The exact details of these patents and what they infringe upon remain unknown, although it’s reported that The Pokemon Company hasn’t taken the Pal Sphere system too kindly.
Interestingly, Palworld was released in early access on January 19. The three patents in question here were all filed between February and July and registered a few months later. This does raise a massive question mark over Nintendo’s ultimate motives about the entire situation. It could well be that the patents were filed as a reaction to Palworld‘s huge success in the gaming world.
https://twitter.com/Palworld_EN/status/1854835101000970725
While players don’t need to be alarmed immediately, Pocketpair has confirmed that Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are seeking about $10 million yen and an injunction against Palword. While the penalty (approximately $66,000) might not be huge, the injunction could be a worrying development.
Pocketpair has commented that they will continue to assert their position with future legal proceedings, so the next few months could be interesting. One would hope that this battle won’t rob the players of the upcoming updates that have been planned for the game.
