Today Palworld developer PocketPair provided more details about the ongoing lawsuit launched by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company against the Japanese indie company.
According to a post on PocketPair’s website, the plaintiffs are alleging that Palworld infringes on three specific patents.
You can find them listed below alongside their application and registration dates.
- Patent No. 7545191
[Patent application date: July 30, 2024]
[Patent registration date: August 27, 2024] - Patent No. 7493117
[Patent application date: February 26, 2024]
[Patent registration date: May 22, 2024] - Patent No. 7528390
[Patent application date: March 5, 2024]
[Patent registration date: July 26, 2024]
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are demanding what is frankly a paltry sum, 5 million yen plus late payment fees for each plaintiff. That would be about $65,000 cumulatively.
The big issue is that they’re also demanding an injunction against Palworld, which would prevent its sale.
Pocketpair mentions that it will “continue to assert its position in this case through future legal proceedings.”
Palworld is currently available for PC, Xbox, and PS5, on top of Game Pass. It has recently launched on PS5 in Japan, showing that PocketPair isn’t holding back on behalf of the ongoing lawsuit.
As the game is in early access, its developers have been updating it consistently, improving the game and adding more content.
A mobile game based on the IP has alsobeen licensed by Krafton and is in development at PUBG studios. We do not know whether this would be affected by the lawsuit, but Krafton isn’t exactly a small developer, and Nintendo would likely have a harder time bullying them. We’ll have to wait and see.
