A couple of days ago, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company surprised everyone by filing a lawsuit against the creators of Palworld for “infringing multiple patent rights” related to Pokémon. Pocketpair’s response was swift, issuing a statement claiming they were unaware of “what patents they have violated.” However, it seems that the case will drag on because patent issues have always been complex and difficult to handle in the courts.
In this regard, the insights of experts can help us form a more informed opinion. That’s precisely why Florian Mueller, an expert in intellectual property and patent law, analyzed on his X/Twitter account that the situation is “complicated,” although he also considers that the lawsuit “may amount to nothing more than harassment from a frustrated rightsholder who resents a successful newcomer.”
The lawyer says that “it seems that they are not suing for creative rights related to the appearance of Palworld characters, although that seemed to be their initial concern. In Japan, they do not call design rights ‘patents,’ which means they must be suing for software patents that have nothing to do with the appearance of Palworld.” He also indicates (via Gamesradar) that “small companies like Pocketpair do not own patents they can dispute, but sometimes they acquire them to gain an advantage.”
Nintendo sued Pocketpair
According to Mueller, one of the most effective ways for the creators of Palworld to react is to “try to purchase some patents in the market that can be enforced against Nintendo for retaliation purposes.” However, he still believes Nintendo does not possess patents powerful enough to “prevent Pocketpair from making Palworld.”. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that Palworld was in danger from the start because a Nintendo patent that was registered just a few months after the announcement of the survival game is very similar to a game mechanic.
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