Nintendo and The Pokemon Company has filed a lawsuit for Infringement of Patent Rights against Pocketpair (Palworld devs)

[Danny]

The only difference to precedent is most people nintendo sends a cease and desist to or take to court

Dont have 500mil in the bank. With the backing of Microsoft, aniplex and sony

I don't think Nintendo sees it as likely they will remove Palworld entirely, but they will get some of the revenue streams from the game if they win the lawsuit.

 

[Joseki]

The only difference to precedent is most people nintendo sends a cease and desist to or take to court

Dont have 500mil in the bank. With the backing of Microsoft, aniplex and sony

Microsoft, Aniplex and Sony aren't going to court against Nintento for a yearly fad.

 

[Oregano]

The only difference to precedent is most people nintendo sends a cease and desist to or take to court

Dont have 500mil in the bank. With the backing of Microsoft, aniplex and sony

Their last case was against Colopl who wasn't small by any means. It's extremely unlikely Microsoft or Sony get involved either.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Sony is not gonna let their attachment to Pokemon be severed. if need be, they'll leave Palworld out to dry

 

[duvjones]

The realistic outcome based on precedents is a private settlement outside court.

More or less, the only way that I see this see a judge if is Nintendo or PocketPair want to prove a point. If Nintendo forces the issue, it's going to be a lot like what happened to Gary Browser.... should they win, they set a marker in the ground that should serve as "the line you don't cross". Should PocketPair attempt to prove a point, and win? Well, suddenly you have to question the patents used here and their effectiveness.

That said, court is costly, both parties would likely rather avoid it if they have to but that all depends on if their is a dialog between the companies and said dialog is fruitful. We will not be prevy to any of that till the end.

 

[Djehuty]

Sony is not gonna let their attachment to Pokemon be severed. if need be, they'll leave Palworld out to dry

Oh absolultley.

I just mesnt to illustrate.

This isnt some guy with 5k in the bank to their name .

Way too many people seem to think thats the case

 

[SkyerIst]

Sony just showed Palworld on a State of Play stream and thanked Pocketpair.
Game releases on a PlayStation 5 today.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Interesting times ahead, maybe Nintendo won't be so nice anymore if this is the result of it. Hope this won't have a negative effect on other indie projects.

 

[Aime]

Sony aceept eary access to their hug.We’ll got new meme Sony copy Nintendo again.
Internet had agenda theory Sony behind the scene backup Pocketpair.

Some article easy to read

ついに動いた！任天堂vs.パルワールド訴訟の焦点 ポケモンに酷似？協業するソニーの出方は | ゲーム・エンタメ | 東洋経済オンライン

google translate

Nintnedo warn already but Pocket pair said they never see.

At the end of January, The Pokemon Company released a statement stating that it had received numerous comments and inquiries about the similarity of other companies' games to Pokemon. Without mentioning the specific game companies, the company said, "We have not granted permission for any use of Pokemon. We intend to investigate any infringements of Pokemon intellectual property rights and take appropriate action."

"Pocket Pair was looking for a partner and approached us. Aniplex also wanted an IP aimed at younger audiences," said an Aniplex source.

Why patent not copyright

In fact, in a lawsuit filed in 2017 by Nintendo against MARI Mobility Development (formerly MariCar), which operated a road kart business modeled after Nintendo's racing game Mario Kart, Nintendo won the case on grounds that the company had violated the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, but copyright infringement was not found to have occurred.

What is of concern here is the stance of Sony, the company that is collaborating with them. Based on the statement that Pokémon released in January and the reactions of users, it seems that Sony also anticipated the risk of lawsuits to some extent when it decided to collaborate with them.

If the situation were to result in a suspension of sales of Palworld, it would have an unavoidable impact on the licensing business that Sony and Aniplex are working on. A spokesperson for Sony Music Entertainment said, "At this time, we have nothing to announce about future business developments."

Announced SoP already

 

[Danny]

Palworld is fullfilling its purpose, being a Pokemon alternative for non Nintendo platforms.

 

[SkyerIst]

Interesting. PS5 version isn't available in Japan.

 

[Aostia82]

Interesting. PS5 version isn't available in Japan.

Are the other versions going on normally?

 

[ILikeFeet]

Are the other versions going on normally?

Seems like it. Pocket Pair mentioned 68 other regions the game is out in now

 

[master94ga]

Palworld is fullfilling its purpose, being a Pokemon alternative for non Nintendo platforms.

The game plays nothing like pokemon.

 

[Kmds]

Sony is not gonna let their attachment to Pokemon be severed. if need be, they'll leave Palworld out to dry

Don't forget the Zelda movie! If Sony does anything it'd most likely hamper future Nintendo film collaborations.

 

[HFbob]

Wait, what's Sony's attachment to Pokemon?

 

[Godzilla]

Wait, what's Sony's attachment to Pokemon?

wait, i'm stupid, i read Palworld.

I guess they want their own Pokemon? like they did with Concord and hero shooters lol

 

[Astrogamer]

Wait, what's Sony's attachment to Pokemon?

Sony Music produces a lot of music for the anime series including the openings and endings. They used the ending for the current season of anime to promote their vsinger, 9Lana, as her debut single.

 

[Danny]

Now that Nintendo have sued Pocketpair, does that mean that Nintendo is clear that they will never give that studio a Switch 2 devkit to work on Switch 2? Meaning they are sort of banned from having anything to do with Nintendo hardware from now on?

 

[Godzilla]

Now that Nintendo have sued Pocketpair, does that mean that Nintendo is clear that they will never give that studio a Switch 2 devkit to work on Switch 2? Meaning they are sort of banned from having anything to do with Nintendo hardware from now on?

You would be surprised... but this is just legal stuff and nothing more, if there's money to be made for both parties they will settle this dispute and release palworld on Switch 2.

 

[balgajo]

You would be surprised... but this is just legal stuff and nothing more, if there's money to be made for both parties they will settle this dispute and release palworld on Switch 2.

This reminded me that in one of the companies I worked we moved a huge lawsuit against the manufacturer of our hardware (some devices were literally exploding due to battery issues) but the partnership was still there. They didn't want to acknowledge a failure on their side.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Now that Nintendo have sued Pocketpair, does that mean that Nintendo is clear that they will never give that studio a Switch 2 devkit to work on Switch 2? Meaning they are sort of banned from having anything to do with Nintendo hardware from now on?

no, Colopl still has a game coming

maybe

 

[SilverACREQ]

Off-topic but this lawsuit/copyright talk reminds of when a musician got sued by another record company for a song and his record company bought the other and still sued him. What happens in the law side doesn't really align with the business side.

 

[Gimmick]

Apparently, Palworld has not released on PS5 in Japan.

Palworld’s PS5 release held up in Japan amid Nintendo Pokémon lawsuit | VGC

The game was released for Sony’s console elsewhere on Tuesday…

www.videogameschronicle.com

 

[randomreader22]

It's madness though because Palworld plays nothing like Pokémon, so they didn't show Pokémon up or anything like that.

Yeah, and the most common remark I have seen regarding this game from people who defending it is Nintendo has been lazy, Nintendo needs make better games ?! As if Palword is a prime example of how a Pokemon should be. I'd even go as far as to say if people are really that worried about game invonation, creativity or whatever, companies like Pocketpair are not where you should put your hope on. If they suddenly go under tomorrow, not much will be missed, tbh.

 

[Person]

Not sure if this is the most appropriate thread for this. Do we have a catch-all Pocketpair thread?

KRAFTON to develop Palworld mobile game

KRAFTON has signed a licensing agreement with Palworld developer Pocketpair to expand the Palworld intellectual property to mobile devices, the companies announced.

www.gematsu.com

Krafton signed a deal to make a mobile adaptation of Palworld.

 

[cw_sasuke]

They are signing longterm deals like they are running out of time - this is gonna be entertaining.

 

[Godzilla]

I feel Palworld is just... Gone.

Outside top 50 most played on Xbox and PC, it's probably doing OK on PS5 since it just released (7 days ago) but i also have my doubts since the about the game has been super muted (bar the lawsuit).

The game had a "decent" spike after the huge update but it lasted like a month, it at all.

Feels like this Krafton deals is just another move by Pocker Pair to recover ground, by the time the full aniplex/sony stuff comes out, i even have my doubts people will remember this game.

 

[master94ga]

I feel Palworld is just... Gone.

Well live every game that isn't a live service, It just get spike when there is an update. Palworld is not a gaas or a game with mechanics to keep player engaged for long like microtransatio or season, is a standard game that people leave whene they finish the content available.

 

[cw_sasuke]

I feel Palworld is just... Gone.

Outside top 50 most played on Xbox and PC, it's probably doing OK on PS5 since it just released (7 days ago) but i also have my doubts since the about the game has been super muted (bar the lawsuit).

The game had a "decent" spike after the huge update but it lasted like a month, it at all.

Feels like this Krafton deals is just another move by Pocker Pair to recover ground, by the time the full aniplex/sony stuff comes out, i even have my doubts people will remember this game.

Its pretty much forever linked to Pokemon, but yeah as of now people in these kind of circles only bring it up when it comes to the vs Nintendo/TPC issue.

 

[enpleinjour]

They are signing longterm deals like they are running out of time - this is gonna be entertaining.

Running out of time from what? Palworld can continue to make money and expand the franchise, Nintendo can't do anything to stop them.

Even the patent lawsuit is only in JP thus far, something that is <5% of Palworld's market.

I feel Palworld is just... Gone.

Outside top 50 most played on Xbox and PC, it's probably doing OK on PS5 since it just released (7 days ago) but i also have my doubts since the about the game has been super muted (bar the lawsuit).

The game had a "decent" spike after the huge update but it lasted like a month, it at all.

Feels like this Krafton deals is just another move by Pocker Pair to recover ground, by the time the full aniplex/sony stuff comes out, i even have my doubts people will remember this game.

Its a campaign game first and foremost so not sure why you are looking at most played charts like that. Previous Pokemon is also gone from most charts by that logic.

The subreddit has 600K subs, the twitter account has 400K followers, this game has a big fanbase atm.

 

[Danny]

Running out of time from what? Palworld can continue to make money and expand the franchise, Nintendo can't do anything to stop them.

Even the patent lawsuit is only in JP thus far, something that is <5% of Palworld's market.



Its a campaign game first and foremost so not sure why you are looking at most played charts like that. Previous Pokemon is also gone from most charts by that logic.

The subreddit has 600K subs, the twitter account has 400K followers, this game has a big fanbase atm.

It has no identity of its own. All its fans do is hate on Game freak and post about bad fps of Pokemon games on Switch.

Palworld is just an effort to get copied Nintendo games on non Nintendo platforms, same as we can see with tons of other Nintendo franchises. None of the games copying Nintendo games ever release on Nintendo hardware.

 

[master94ga]

It has no identity of its own. All its fans do is hate on Game freak and post about bad fps of Pokemon games on Switch.

Palworld is just an effort to get copied Nintendo games on non Nintendo platforms, same as we can see with tons of other Nintendo franchises. None of the games copying Nintendo games ever release on Nintendo hardware.

Not at all, Palworld is a completly different game from Pokem in every aspects, the only thing they have in common is the style of the creatures. Comparing Palworld to Pokemon is like comparing Trackmania to Assetto Corsa, both games have cars but they play completly different.

 

[Oregano]

Running out of time from what? Palworld can continue to make money and expand the franchise, Nintendo can't do anything to stop them.

Even the patent lawsuit is only in JP thus far, something that is <5% of Palworld's market.

Worth keeping in mind that Pocketpair is based in Tokyo so the lawsuit could definitely effect their ability to operate globally despite only being filed in Japan.

 

[Aostia82]

Worth keeping in mind that Pocketpair is based in Tokyo so the lawsuit could definitely effect their ability to operate globally despite only being filed in Japan.

Yes, both companies have their Legal HQ in Tokyo and are subject to the Japanese laws for such matters
it's not that the lawsuit will matter only over there
whatever the utcome will be, will affect the companies and their involved products

 

[Vena]

Running out of time from what? Palworld can continue to make money and expand the franchise, Nintendo can't do anything to stop them.

Even the patent lawsuit is only in JP thus far, something that is <5% of Palworld's market.



Its a campaign game first and foremost so not sure why you are looking at most played charts like that. Previous Pokemon is also gone from most charts by that logic.

The subreddit has 600K subs, the twitter account has 400K followers, this game has a big fanbase atm.

The Japanese court could completely cripple them globally. Not that it will but just because it's "only Japan" doesn't mean it cannot have sweeping ramifications for the game's global footprint.

 

[jesusraz]

Exactly, just because it's seen as "Japan only" doesn't mean anything, since if the courts agree that 1.) The game cannot be produced anymore, 2.) A percentage needs to be paid to Nintendo for each copy sold, 3.) A big payout is required and engine needs completely revamping... that's going to have massive repercussions globally for the company.

 

[enpleinjour]

Worth keeping in mind that Pocketpair is based in Tokyo so the lawsuit could definitely effect their ability to operate globally despite only being filed in Japan.

Oh I did, but with the amount of money this game has made ($500M+), I think relocating the offices would be fine for most of the studio.

Yes, both companies have their Legal HQ in Tokyo and are subject to the Japanese laws for such matters
it's not that the lawsuit will matter only over there
whatever the utcome will be, will affect the companies and their involved products

The Japanese court could completely cripple them globally. Not that it will but just because it's "only Japan" doesn't mean it cannot have sweeping ramifications for the game's global footprint.

The Japanese court does not have jurisdiction outside Japan. The big markets have their own patent office and court system.

 

[Astrogamer]

Oh I did, but with the amount of money this game has made ($500M+), I think relocating the offices would be fine for most of the studio.




The Japanese court does not have jurisdiction outside Japan. The big markets have their own patent office and court system.

It would jeopardize their standing and moving requires hiring a whole new team. Like Pocketpair could move to like Taiwan but, considering how young and amateur their staff is, very few would have the resources to make the move. All of their profits would still be tied up in the Japanese legal system. They would have to made this move months ago bypass this, preferably prior to Palworld launching.

 

[Aostia82]

Oh I did, but with the amount of money this game has made ($500M+), I think relocating the offices would be fine for most of the studio.




The Japanese court does not have jurisdiction outside Japan. The big markets have their own patent office and court system.

This sounds like a completely made up scenario, compared to real life facts

If the Japanese court will hit them hard (I absolutely dont know sh*t about how the lawsuit will go) they wont revocate and that's it lol

 

[Danny]

Oh I did, but with the amount of money this game has made ($500M+), I think relocating the offices would be fine for most of the studio.




The Japanese court does not have jurisdiction outside Japan. The big markets have their own patent office and court system.

What is their gameplan if Game Freak delivers quality Pokemon games on Switch 2? Given that their only identity is being Pokemon played on stronger hardware?

 

[Necu]

I heard that these patents are jointly recognition in a coalition of countries.

 

[Vena]

We still have no idea what patents or otherwise is even being argued in this case, so we should really stem some of this speculation for now.

 

[enpleinjour]

This sounds like a completely made up scenario, compared to real life facts

If the Japanese court will hit them hard (I absolutely dont know sh*t about how the lawsuit will go) they wont revocate and that's it lol

It would jeopardize their standing and moving requires hiring a whole new team. Like Pocketpair could move to like Taiwan but, considering how young and amateur their staff is, very few would have the resources to make the move. All of their profits would still be tied up in the Japanese legal system. They would have to made this move months ago bypass this, preferably prior to Palworld launching.

After making $500M, moving devs will be trivial. Like the potential employee compensation alone will have people all over wanting to work at Pocketpair, let alone the idea of a buyout.

Also, there is no injunction in place so Pocketpair atm is free to do whatever a company can. The court case itself will take many years.

I heard that these patents are jointly recognition in a coalition of countries.

No, patents are only valid in their own jurisdication and each sovereign has its own court system to determine the validitiy of the patent. Treaties can help international enforcement though the only two countries with enough economic power to effectively do that is US/China.
There is the EU wide patent system, afaic, Nintendo have not filed a lawsuit there.
The two biggest Palworld markets are China and US.

 

[Joseki]

This sounds like a completely made up scenario, compared to real life facts

If the Japanese court will hit them hard (I absolutely dont know sh*t about how the lawsuit will go) they wont revocate and that's it lol

Everything that is being discussed is infact completely made up because no one here is a lawyer expert in japanese patent law and we don't even know the patents in questions.

It's literally people making up arguments and then arguing about invented scenarios.

 

[Danny]

After making $500M, moving devs will be trivial. Like the potential employee compensation alone will have people all over wanting to work at Pocketpair, let alone the idea of a buyout.

Also, there is no injunction in place so Pocketpair atm is free to do whatever a company can. The court case itself will take many years.



No, patents are only valid in their own jurisdication and each sovereign has its own court system to determine the validitiy of the patent. Treaties can help international enforcement though the only two countries with enough economic power to effectively do that is US/China.
There is the EU wide patent system, afaic, Nintendo have not filed a lawsuit there.
The two biggest Palworld markets are China and US.

I don't get why you hype up Palworld so much? Do you know how much more worth there is in the Pokemon IP? And Pokemon is only going up when having better hardware to release their games to as well.

 

[MegaXZero]

I don't get why you hype up Palworld so much? Do you know how much more worth there is in the Pokemon IP? And Pokemon is only going up when having better hardware to release their games to as well.

That has absolutely zero to do with what he said.

 

[Jimmy Joe]

After making $500M, moving devs will be trivial. Like the potential employee compensation alone will have people all over wanting to work at Pocketpair, let alone the idea of a buyout.

I'm not convinced that moving devs is just a problem of money; it's also a problem of people being willing to uproot their entire lives, and work for a company that's rapidly falling out of favour for Japanese gamers and in comparison to other developers

Japanese development houses have never been more desperate to hire than they are right now. What incentive is there for people to work for Pocketpair, much less move to a different country due to Pocketpair's legal troubles? What does Pocketpair's future look like after Palworld?

The question is a lot more complex than how many dollars they can spend