Nintendo has finally pulled the trigger on filing a lawsuit against Pocketpair, the makers of Palworld, the Pokémon game with guns.
Nintendo is no stranger to litigation. They've shut down plenty of fan projects and copycat games in the past. Now, they take aim at the creators of Palworld, Pocketpair Inc. Nintendo is suing the Palworld makers for patent infringement, with a lawsuit filed in the Tokyo District Court.
Nintendo goes forward with a lawsuit over Palworld infringing on Pokémon patents
The Pokémon Company and Nintendo announced the lawsuit on September 18, 2024. A release was posted on the official Nintendo 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 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."
Palworld exploded in popularity upon release, but it sparked a discussion within the community. Was it just a Pokémon-like game with guns? Did it use AI creations for its Pals? Or did it straight up steal assets from Pokémon? Players raised those questions and more.
The concerns did not stop players. It became one of the most-played games of all time on Steam. And while the numbers now are nothing like they were, updates and future promises are still delivered by Pocketpair. So, we'll have to wait and see how this Nintendo lawsuit against the Palworld devs plays out.
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Recent Nintendo victories in court
Nintendo has been on a roll lately, winning court case after court case. This lawsuit against Pocketpair may be just another tick in the win column if the trend continues.
In just 2024, Nintendo has won a lawsuit against Tropic Haze. Tropic Haze issued a settlement of over $2 million for their Yuzu Switch emulator. That includes giving up all their properties to Nintendo and ceasing all activities.
Months later, Nintendo won a case against them regarding the Joy-Con Stick Drift. Courts dismissed a pair of lawsuits that claimed Nintendo sold defective devices with their consoles.
And just days prior to Nintendo filing a lawsuit against the Palworld creators, they claimed victory in another Pokémon related case. This one was a $15 million lawsuit against a slew of China-based developers working on a game called Pocket Monster Reissue.
That last one could easily set the precedent that Pokémon and Nintendo copyrights have been, and are constantly being infringed upon. Don't be surprised if its outcome plays a big role in the outcome of the current pending litigation.
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