Right after the release of Pokemon with Guns, Palworld, several game critics knew it coming. And now, Nintendo-owned ‘The Pokémon Company’ filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocket Pair in the Tokyo District Court on September 18, 2024.
As per the press release by Nintendo, “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.”
Since Palworld’s entry on the scene in January 2024, several comparisons with Pokemons have been brought to the forefront. Even the Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe, in an interview with Automation, admitted that the company might face a legal battle with Nintendo over Pals’ similarity to Pokemon. However, Mizobe has passed away any allegations by saying, “We take our games very seriously and we have absolutely no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies.”
Mizobe has even confessed that Palworld’s open-world survival and crafting mechanics closely resemble Studio Wildcard’s Ark: Survival Evolved than it does with Pokemon.
Just after the release, Nintendo appeared to look into the matter and after eight months, it filed a legal case against Pocketpair for infringing on intellectual property.
“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.”
Related:
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Palworld Responds
Pocketpair, via a blog post, has admitted that they “have received notice of this lawsuit” and soon “begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations”.
From the post, it appears that the POcketpair itself is unaware of the specific patents accused of infringing upon. Pocketpair also conceded that they are a small indie game company, aimed at crafting intriguing games. Pocketpair also added that they are “unfortunate to allocate significant time (towards lawsuit) to matters unrelated to game development”.
Nonetheless, the developers have assured that “indie game developers (Pocketpair) are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas”.
To take a holistic view, there are a few resemblances between Palword and Pokemon. Very first, the Pals look very similar to Pokemon. Moreover, the in-game mechanisms like capturing and taming the creatures or customizing the base are comparable as well. The lawsuit has not disclosed any info on what exact portion of Palworld infringes the intellectual property of The Pokemon Company.