The Pokémon Company Wins $15 Million Copyright Lawsuit Against Game That Copied Pokémon Characters - IGN
The Pokémon Company has won around $15 million in a copyright lawsuit against a Chinese company that appeared to blatantly use Pokémon characters in its game.
The Pokémon Company has won around $15 million in a copyright lawsuit against a Chinese company that appeared to blatantly use Pokémon characters in its game.
As reported by GamesBiz and translated by Automaton, The Pokémon Company announced its success in the lawsuit over Pocket Monster Reissue, also known as Koudaiyaoguai Fuke, a turn based role-playing mobile game alleged to include characters such as Ash Ketchum and Pikachu.
The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court has acknowledged the copyright infringement and ordered one of six companies accused to pay 107 million Chinese yuan (around $15.08 million) in damages. Three of the remaining six companies were ordered to bear joint liability but have filed an appeal.
Pocket Monster Reissue launched in 2015 and appeared fairly popular, having earned upwards of around $42 million in a single year according to The Pokémon Company, as reported by The South China Morning Post in 2022.
The game featured seemingly unaltered Pikachu artwork from the Pokémon Yellow box as the app icon, while other branding for the game featured what appeared to be Ash Ketchum, Pikachu, Tepig, and Oshawott, again unaltered. Gameplay of Pocket Monster Reissue from perezzdb on YouTube shows myriad other familiar characters and Pokémon in what appears to be intended as a remake of the original games.
The Pokémon Company is fairly cut-throat with its copyright lawsuits but some targets, perhaps including Pocket Monster Reissue, are more blatant about its influence than others.
