Not even two months after the news dropped that Nintendo is suing Pocketpair for ‘Infringement of Patent Rights’ in Palworld, the creature-catching game that took the world by storm earlier this year. The lawsuit states that Nintendo is after “an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages” as Palworld infringes upon “multiple” patent rights. Well, now Pocketpair has revealed the next part of the Saga.
Speaking in a statement, the Palworld creator states that “As announced on September 19, 2024, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Plaintiffs’) have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against us.” confirming the Palworld lawsuit, and explaining that due to “inquiries from various media outlets regarding the status of the lawsuit” the company is reporting on the details.
“The Plaintiffs claim that ‘Palworld,’ released by us on January 19, 2024, infringes upon the following three patents held by the Plaintiffs, and are seeking an injunction against the game and compensation for a portion of the damages incurred between the date of registration of the patents and the date of filing of this lawsuit.”
Following that statement, Pocketpair laid out three patents Nintendo is suing it for before going on to reveal that not only is Nintendo after ¥5 million “plus late payment damages,” so is The Pokémon Company, meaning Pocketpair is facing a lawsuit worth a minimum of ¥10 million. For clarification, infringing patents isn’t the same as copyright infringement; Nintendo claims Pocketpair is using its ideas or inventions rather than copying designs for the monsters.
Pocketpair concludes by saying it “will refrain from responding individually to inquiries regarding this case. If any matters arise that require public notice, we will announce them on our website, etc.”
If you hoped to see a Palworld Switch port, that is well and truly out the window. However, if you need some help with the various Pokémon games on Switch, we can offer some assistance with our psychic Pokémon weakness and dark Pokémon weakness guides.