Update: Nintendo has added the following statement to the Game File about why they are suing Pocketpair. “We filed the lawsuit at this time after careful investigation of the content that is the subject of this lawsuit. We will refrain from commenting on issues related to the content of the lawsuit.”
Original News: A legal earthquake is looming that many may not have expected at this point. It is time for Pocketpair, the creators of Palworld, to face the lawsuit filed by Nintendo and The Pokemon Company against them in the past hours. A few months ago, the creators of Palworld said they had not received any claims of plagiarism regarding their survival game, but it seems that both the legal department of Nintendo and Pokemon Company were thoroughly investigating the matter.
Nintendo has issued a press release on their official website confirming that a lawsuit has been filed against the developer of Palworld for infringing multiple copyrights. “Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court against Pocketpair Inc. This lawsuit seeks a court order against the infringement and compensation for damages alleging that Palworld, a game developed and published by the defendant, infringes multiple patent rights,” it states.
“Nintendo will continue to take necessary measures against any infringement of its intellectual property rights, including the Nintendo trademark, to protect the intellectual properties that it has worked so hard to establish over the years,” defends the company. In early January, we reported that The Pokemon Company’s lawyers were keeping an eye on Palworld and announced that they would consider measures, and it seems that they have now taken the form of a lawsuit against Pocketpair.
What could happen with Palworld and the Nintendo lawsuit?
It is still too early to tell, first of all, we must wait for the statement that Pocketpair should issue in the next few hours regarding the lawsuit filed by Nintendo. For now, we have the reaction of the Community Manager of Palworld, who has posted a smiling emoticon in an ironic tone about the situation on their X/Twitter account. Some lawyers have discussed the situation pointing out what could happen, but analyst Serkan Toto already predicts on social media that Pocketpair could be in trouble. “This could end very badly for Pocketpair, considering Nintendo’s legendary track record (especially in Japan) when it comes to lawsuits like these.”
One of the lawyers is Hansel Henson, an intellectual property specialist who was able to speak with VGC a few months ago. “Nintendo absolutely has to prove that [Palworld] has copied, not just influenced. The industry would have ended years ago if you weren’t allowed to influence. You can’t have a monopoly on a certain artistic style,” he thinks. Another lawyer who wanted to comment is Richard Hoeg, who points out the following: “Palworld is such a different type of game from Pokémon that it’s hard to imagine what patents (not copyright) could have been infringed. The initial instinctive reaction is that Nintendo may be going too far.”
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