Nintendo Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against Palworld developers Pocketpair

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Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair, which makes the game Palworld.
September 19, 2024
To Whom It May Concern
The Pokémon Company
Nintendo Co., Ltd.

Filing Lawsuit for Infringement of Patent Rights against Pocketpair, Inc.​

Nintendo Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto, Minami-ku, Japan; Representative Director and President: Shuntaro Furukawa, “Nintendo” hereafter), together with The Pokémon Company, filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court against Pocketpair, Inc. (HQ: 2-10-2 Higashigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, “Defendant” hereafter) on September 18, 2024.
This lawsuit seeks an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that Palworld, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights.

Nintendo will continue to take necessary actions against any infringement of its intellectual property rights including the Nintendo brand itself, to protect the intellectual properties it has worked hard to establish over the years.



 
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This is very interesting because PalWorld is very successful and they can't sue over ball and creature mechanics. I'm not sure how the designs are patent-related, but I would like to know what the patents are for.
 
This is very interesting because PalWorld is very successful and they can't sue over ball and creature mechanics. I'm not sure how the designs are patent-related, but I would like to know what the patents are for.
These are some of the patents that Nintendo and Pokemon own.
Patent number: 12083424
Abstract: A user breeds a virtual life form by practicing good sleep habits and stays motivated toward practicing good sleep habits while enjoying breeding the virtual life form. A game server manages progress of a breeding game of a virtual life form, the game server including circuitry configured to acquire sleep data that at least includes a sleep pattern indicating a bedtime and a wake-up time of a user; store the acquired sleep data as a sleep history; and update the breeding game based on the sleep pattern in the sleep history.
Type: Grant
Filed: August 1, 2022
Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
Assignee: THE POKEMON COMPANY
Inventors: Takayuki Shindo, Satoshi Ogawa, Kaname Kosugi, Marie Shuto, Koya Nakahata

Publication number: 20240286040
Abstract: In an example of a game program, a ground boarding target object or an air boarding target object is selected by a selection operation, and a player character is caused to board the selected boarding target object. If the player character aboard the air boarding target object moves toward the ground, the player character is automatically changed to the state where the player character is aboard the ground boarding target object, and brought into the state where the player character can move on the ground.
Type: Application
Filed: May 2, 2024
Publication date: August 29, 2024
Applicants: NINTENDO CO., LTD., The Pokémon Company
Inventor: Kazumasa IWAO
 
These are some of the patents that Nintendo and Pokemon own.
Patent number: 12083424
Abstract: A user breeds a virtual life form by practicing good sleep habits and stays motivated toward practicing good sleep habits while enjoying breeding the virtual life form. A game server manages progress of a breeding game of a virtual life form, the game server including circuitry configured to acquire sleep data that at least includes a sleep pattern indicating a bedtime and a wake-up time of a user; store the acquired sleep data as a sleep history; and update the breeding game based on the sleep pattern in the sleep history.
Type: Grant
Filed: August 1, 2022
Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
Assignee: THE POKEMON COMPANY
Inventors: Takayuki Shindo, Satoshi Ogawa, Kaname Kosugi, Marie Shuto, Koya Nakahata

Publication number: 20240286040
Abstract: In an example of a game program, a ground boarding target object or an air boarding target object is selected by a selection operation, and a player character is caused to board the selected boarding target object. If the player character aboard the air boarding target object moves toward the ground, the player character is automatically changed to the state where the player character is aboard the ground boarding target object, and brought into the state where the player character can move on the ground.
Type: Application
Filed: May 2, 2024
Publication date: August 29, 2024
Applicants: NINTENDO CO., LTD., The Pokémon Company
Inventor: Kazumasa IWAO
This sounds really abstract and infringes upon the creativity and freedom of any developer.

Like this one:
Something anyone should have the right to when implemented right.
 
Lol next Nintendo will also try to Patent Lyn's specific Thigh PLOT shape and size.
 
Nintendo should instead be taking an opportunity to push Pokémon as a less violent Palworld. Instead they're going to get a huge amount of negative publicity and irritate the gaming community. Idiots.
 
Censored Palworld just sounds like a self-deprecating title, especially with internet culture that has made jokes right and left about whether Pokemon was adult-like YouTube parodies and specific Pokemon fan art and videos.
 
More on the lawsuit:

1. Details of the Lawsuit

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.

2. Target Patents

  • 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
3. Summary of the Claim

  • An injunction against Palworld
  • Payment of five million yen plus late payment damages to The Pokémon Company
  • Payment of five million yen plus late payment damages to Nintendo Co., Ltd.
We will continue to assert our position in this case through future legal proceedings.

Please note that we 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.
 
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