Following last week's shocking announcement that Nintendo is suing Palworld maker Pocketpair for infringement of “multiple patent rights”, an intellectual property expert has claimed it is “extremely plausible” that Nintendo has drawn up its patent applications. patent specifically to target Palworld.
Writing for Gamesindustry.biz, Andrew Velzen, an associate at law firm MBHB, began by summarizing some of the intellectual property discoveries that legal experts have made so far since news of Nintendo's lawsuit emerged last week, beginning with four key patent applications highlighted by the Japanese lawyer. Kiyoshi Kurihara.
All of these patent claims, Velzen explains, relate to different aspects of capturing and/or mounting “combat characters,” “air-mountable characters,” and “field characters” using “player characters.” Notably, all four patent applications were filed on pre-existing “core” patents from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. after the launch of Palworld, and its issuance has been accelerated using Japanese accelerated examination procedures.
However, Velzen notes that Nintendo didn't stop there. The company also filed two similar patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in May 2024, again after the launch of Palworld, and several months after The Pokémon Company announced that it would investigate whether Palworld infringes any “intellectual property rights.” related to Pokémon.” “.
One of these US patent applications (US-App-3) relates to the in-game activity of throwing a “capture object” or “fighting character” in a virtual space, while the other (US-App -4) focuses on addressing an object, selected from several objects held by the player character, to provide instructions that cause it to move, with specific mention of this happening while it is in the air. As with its Japanese patent claims, Nintendo paid to have examination of its patent claims substantially expedited.
“Based on this information,” says Velzen, “it's not too speculative to assume that Nintendo introduced [its US patent applications] with the intention of targeting Palworld.” He adds that it is also “extremely plausible that these claims were crafted to interpret aspects of Palworld.”
While Nintendo's lawsuit is only directed at Japan at this time, Velzen notes that it's interesting that the company's US patent claims were rejected during the expedited examination process: US-App-3 “solely for lacking eligibility.” of the matter” and US-App- 4 for “obviousness”. Nintendo still has until October to modify its claims and/or argue against rejections to try to get its apps across the finish line.
“If (i) Nintendo's litigation proceeds reasonably successfully in Japan and a global settlement is not reached and (ii) the claims in the prior patent applications do not require substantial modifications to reach grant, Nintendo will certainly have the opportunity to file a similar patent infringement lawsuit in the US,” explains Velzen, before adding: “These are certainly two pretty substantial 'ifs'.”
“Anyway, though,” he continues, “I think we're seeing how seriously Nintendo views the Palworld threat.”
In a statement last week, Palworld developer Pocketpair confirmed that it had received notice of Nintendo's legal action, but said it was “unaware of the specific patents we are accused of infringing.” However, he has vowed to fight Nintendo's lawsuit, to ensure that small studios “are not hindered or deterred from pursuing creative ideas.”
The developer also launched Palworld for PS5 in 68 countries and regions this week, although Japan was not one of them, leading many to assume that Nintendo's lawsuit is to blame.