Nintendo and The Pokémon Company sue PalWorld developer for patent infringement

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have announced that they have filed a lawsuit against Pocket Pair, the developer of Pal World.

Nintendo Co., Ltd. Press Release: September 19, 2024 -Regarding the filing of a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocket Pair Co., Ltd. | Nintendo
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/2024/240919.html

Patent infringement lawsuit filed against Pocket Pair Co., Ltd. | The Pokémon Company
https://corporate.pokemon.co.jp/media/news/detail/346.html

Pal World is a game released on January 19, 2024, in which players can capture creatures called 'Pal' and enjoy battles and survival. However, even before the game's release, there were complaints that Pal's design was 'similar to Pokemon,' and Don McGowan, who led the legal department of The Pokemon Company from 2008 to 2020, said of Pal World, 'It's like the typical rip-off nonsense games I saw thousands of times a year when I was the Chief Legal Officer of The Pokemon Company.' This caused controversy.

Pal World, which has sold over 6 million copies, is also a hot topic overseas for being 'similar to Pokemon.' The former legal officer of The Pokemon Company commented that it was 'a typical rip-off nonsense game that you see thousands of times a year,' and revealed that the developer has received threats, including death threats.

Also, on January 25, 2024, a few days after the release of Pal World, The Pokémon Company announced, referring to 'other companies' games released in January 2024,' that 'we will investigate any infringement of intellectual property rights related to Pokémon and take appropriate action.'

We have received numerous inquiries from customers regarding a game from another company that was released in January 2024 that is similar to Pokémon and whether or not it was licensed by our company. We have not licensed any use of Pokémon for this game.

Regarding any infringement of Pokémon intellectual property rights, we intend to investigate and take appropriate action.

It has been revealed that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have filed a lawsuit against Pocket Pair, the developer of Pal World, for patent infringement. The two companies are seeking an injunction against Pocket Pair for infringement and damages . Nintendo's announcement is as follows:

Nintendo Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Minami-ku, Kyoto City; President and CEO: Shuntaro Furukawa; hereinafter referred to as 'the Company'), in collaboration with The Pokémon Company, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocket Pair Co., Ltd. (headquarters: 2-10-2 Higashi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter referred to as 'Defendant') in the Tokyo District Court on September 18, 2024.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction against the defendants and compensation for damages, alleging that the game 'Palworld' developed and sold by the defendants infringes multiple patents.

In order to protect the valuable intellectual property that we have built up through many years of hard work, we will continue to take the necessary measures against any infringement of our intellectual property, including our brand.

At the time of writing, Pocket Pair had not made any comments, but in an interview with AUTOMATON conducted immediately after the release of Pal World , Pocket Pair President Takuro Mizobe responded to the question, 'Because it is a game themed around monsters, readers have responded with questions such as 'Can you release it?' and 'Are you being scolded?' How do you view such reactions, Mr. Mizobe?' He emphasized that he has no intention of infringing on the intellectual property rights of other companies.

'Can we release it?' is a bit of an extreme question, but we are serious about developing the game, and of course, we have no intention of infringing on the intellectual property rights of other companies. We have also undergone a legal review, and at this time, we have not received any concrete action from other companies. There are various rumors flying around on the Internet, but we hope you will purchase it with confidence.

Some people suspect that the designs of the Pals that appear in Pal World were created using generative AI, but Pocket Pair's President Mizobe claims that they were designed by hand, not by generative AI, and in an interview published on September 11, 2024 , he repeatedly denied the use of generative AI.

Our company has always been sensitive to technology, and naturally we pay attention to AI, and we are always thinking about how we can use it in the field. When we were developing 'Pal World' at the time, we tried to use AI to generate pals, but we decided that it would be more accurate if a human made them. The quality of what AI generates is high, but it is quite difficult to generate exactly what you imagine. That's why we don't use it in reality.

In addition, Pocket Pair established Palworld Entertainment Co., Ltd., a company that will handle Palworld's licensing business, in July 2024 in collaboration with Sony Music Entertainment and Aniplex.

Palworld Entertainment Co., Ltd.
https://palworld.co.jp/

In addition, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are suing Pocket Pair for 'patent infringement.' An interesting article was published in the journal of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association, which discussed the reasons why lawsuits over game patents tend to focus on patent rights rather than copyrights, and the impact on players if patent infringement is found.

Game Fans' Wishes for Game Patents
(PDF file) https://jpaa-patent.info/patent/viewPdf/4278

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