Together, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have filed a patent infringement lawsuit and moved to sue Pocketpair, the developer of Palworld, the indie success from earlier this year.
The companies are seeking an injunction against patent infringement along with compensation for damages. They’re arguing that Palworld infringes on “multiple patent rights.” At the end of the press release, Nintendo explained that it would defend itself against infringement of its IP and its brand..
Pocketpair responded hours later, saying that it would start preparing legally and investigate the claims from Nintendo. It explained that it doesn’t know what patents Palworld is accused of infringing upon, as Nintendo didn’t explain.
Pocketpair went on to explain that it’s a small indie studio. It won’t let this stop it from creating fun games that people love. It expressed that it’s “unfortunate” that development time is being taken away from Palworld to handle this legal matter. However, it aims to make a stand for all indies:
“However, we will do our utmost for our fans, and to ensure that indie game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas.”
When Palworld was released, people were quick to compare it to Pokémon because of the genre. However, Nintendo has been digging deep for months looking for grounds to sue the indie devs on.
More details will likely emerge in the future about what patents the lawsuit is discussing. In the meantime, it’s worth noting that patents and copyrights are two different things. Patents are focused on ideas rather than designs.
Interested fans can view both Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s patents. However, it will more than likely be quite some time before official word on the accusations pinpoints the alleged problem that caused Nintendo to sue Palworld.
Earlier this month, Palworld debunked rumors about the game becoming free-to-play or live service as the developers work to make the game as great as it can be.
