Japanese entertainment juggernauts Pokémon and Nintendo have filed suit against hit game creator Pocketpair with the Tokyo District Court based on IP disputes. Pocketpair, also based in Japan, is the creator of the hit open-world game Palworld.
Intellectual property (IP) is a nasty and shameless business, unlike the fun games and characters that these legal battles surround.
Gaming and entertainment giants Nintendo and Pokémon (Nintendo Co., Ltd and The Pokémon Company) have just announced in a joint press release they’ll be filing suit in the Tokyo District Court against another hit gaming enterprise in the land of the rising sun — Pocketpair (Pocket Pair Co., Ltd.).
Pocketpair and Pocket Monsters/Nintendo will do battle in a stuffy real life arena in Japan, as Pocketpair’s hit game Palworld is said by the latter massive companies to infringe on “multiple patents.”
Nintendo and Pokémon strike out at 2024’s runaway hit Palworld
Rumors of possible legal trouble have circled since way back in January.
Pocketpair’s CEO at that time rejected the idea that Palworld (which sold a reported 2 million copies in a mere 24 hours at release) infringed on copyrights, noting that the game passed legal reviews. “We make our games very seriously,” said Takuro Mizobe, “and we have absolutely no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies.”
Fast forward to September, and Nintendo has finally pulled the trigger.
The Palworld game has a satirical and darkly comedic premise, featuring characters that bear obvious resemblance to the more innocent Pokémon, and has been referred to as “Pokémon with guns.”
Apparently Nintendo and Pokémon did not appreciate the humor.
“In order to protect the important intellectual property that we have built up through many years of hard work, we intend to continue to take the necessary measures against infringement of our intellectual property, including our brand,” the Japanese press release (translated by Google) concludes.
