When Palworld released into early access back in January of this year, it drew attention for its similarities to Pokemon. Some called into question whether or not the developers of Palword, Pocketpair Inc, would come under fire, but The Pokemon Company issued an official statement that they had no plans at the time to pursue legal action, and would need to, "investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon."

It appears that the investigation from The Pokemon Company has led to the decision of indeed filing a lawsuit against Pocketpair Inc, claiming that Palworld infringes on "multiple patent rights". Nintendo is seeking an injunction and compensation for damages.

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.

After reaching more than 20 million sales on Steam, Pocketpair and Xbox had partnered up to assist with development on Palworld's features and updates. They had also partnered with Sony Japan and Aniplex for merchandizing and music relating to Palworld.

Source

 

[pogisanpolo]

Did some digging around on the Japanese-side of the discussion. Warning that is hearsay since I'm not good at Japanese (yet).

As a whole, the Japanese public is on Nintendo's side, and are condemning Pocketpair, under the thinking that "they're getting what they deserve". It seems that the Japanese perception is that "If Nintendo is suing them, then surely they're guilty since Nintendo never sues anyone unless they did something wrong. Whatever it is they're doing wrong, they need to be punished for it."

It's also partly with the perception that in their eyes, they're using the "small indie developer card" defense, with local Japanese indie devs responding "Don't you dare try to speak for all of us."

Addendum: Did some digging with the aid of Google Translate. While I'm not particularly good at Japanese, I know enough that a LOT of stuff will get lost in translation. Thankfully, at least one English-speaking native Japanese (who are supporting Nintendo, but otherwise open to listening from non-Japanese English speakers) is trying to their line of thinking. Interestingly, there's also evidence that support for Pocketpair from the Japanese do exist, but they don't speak up which makes sense given their culture of conformity, best captured in their saying:「出る釘は打たれる」 (the nail that sticks out is hammered down, aka anyone who sticks out too much gets punished).

It seems like the general sentiment around Palworld is their brazen mannerisms (extremely un-Japanese, to put it politely), and making hundreds of millions of yen from the ideas of others, while trying to paint themselves as a weak victim of bullying despite making hundreds of millions of yen, put together gives the impression of a greedy ruffian in their eyes. They are legitimately do not understand why "the West" is generally supportive of Pocketpair, when nearly every Japanese seems to be against them.

Also throwing in some (Japanese-only. Google Translate is your friend) interviews that were linked in the thread that understandably don't get featured in English which can shed more light on what they feel about Pocketpair as a whole. Make of it what you will.

https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/interview/190906a

https://wired.jp/article/why-stay-independent-5-pocketpair-takuro-mizobe/

https://www.gamespark.jp/article/2024/08/04/143842.html

 

[Bladexdsl]

As a whole, the Japanese public is on Nintendo's side, and are condemning Pocketpair, under the thinking that "they're getting what they deserve". It seems that the Japanese perception is that "If Nintendo is suing them, then surely they're guilty since Nintendo never sues anyone unless they did something wrong. Whatever it is they're doing wrong, they need to be punished for it."

and this is why they can get away with whatever they want with idiot SHEEP like that supporting them. it's just pathetic they all just can't wait to suck another pokedick

 

[ChronosNotashi]

Did some digging around on the Japanese-side of the discussion. Warning that is hearsay since I'm not good at Japanese (yet).

As a whole, the Japanese public is on Nintendo's side, and are condemning Pocketpair, under the thinking that "they're getting what they deserve". It seems that the Japanese perception is that "If Nintendo is suing them, then surely they're guilty since Nintendo never sues anyone unless they did something wrong. Whatever it is they're doing wrong, they need to be punished for it."

It's also partly with the perception that in their eyes, they're using the "small indie developer card" defense, with local Japanese indie devs responding "Don't you dare try to speak for all of us."

Makes sense, if accurate. Since the legal battle is going to take place in a Japanese court, it's not a bad idea to see what those from said region think of it. Especially the indie devs, since Pocketpair's recent message can be interpreted as them trying to speak for all indie devs through a legal battle specific to Pocketpair's case, even if that wasn't their intention with that message.

 

[Guacaholey]

Did some digging around on the Japanese-side of the discussion. Warning that is hearsay since I'm not good at Japanese (yet).

As a whole, the Japanese public is on Nintendo's side, and are condemning Pocketpair, under the thinking that "they're getting what they deserve". It seems that the Japanese perception is that "If Nintendo is suing them, then surely they're guilty since Nintendo never sues anyone unless they did something wrong. Whatever it is they're doing wrong, they need to be punished for it."

It's also partly with the perception that in their eyes, they're using the "small indie developer card" defense, with local Japanese indie devs responding "Don't you dare try to speak for all of us."

When it comes to stuff like the law Japan is such a shit hole that people plead guilty to crimes they didn't commit because the Japanese legal system is a giant kangaroo court.

 

[Tigeristic15]

View attachment 459126​

When Palworld released into early access back in January of this year, it drew attention for its similarities to Pokemon. Some called into question whether or not the developers of Palword, Pocketpair Inc, would come under fire, but The Pokemon Company issued an official statement that they had no plans at the time to pursue legal action, and would need to, "investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon."

It appears that the investigation from The Pokemon Company has led to the decision of indeed filing a lawsuit against Pocketpair Inc, claiming that Palworld infringes on "multiple patent rights". Nintendo is seeking an injunction and compensation for damages.



After reaching more than 20 million sales on Steam, Pocketpair and Xbox had partnered up to assist with development on Palworld's features and updates. They had also partnered with Sony Japan and Aniplex for merchandizing and music relating to Palworld.

Source

Didn't realise throwing balls was trademarked got something to confess Nintendo lmao

 

[pogisanpolo]

When it comes to stuff like the law Japan is such a shit hole that people plead guilty to crimes they didn't commit because the Japanese legal system is a giant kangaroo court.

The neat part is they're acknowledging this, are working on fixing it with experiments, and even have a word for it (冤罪). It'll probably take several generations though given how notoriously resistant their culture is to change.

 

[KarlsBrau]

I wonder what took them so long. Gotta be honest the first time I saw some of Palworld's designs I thought they were leaks for an upcoming Pokémon game. They couldve at least gone with another artstyle in my opinion

 

[pogisanpolo]

I wonder what took them so long. Gotta be honest the first time I saw some of Palworld's designs I thought they were leaks for an upcoming Pokémon game. They couldve at least gone with another artstyle in my opinion

They're probably doing research to make sure they have an airtight case. It's possible they tried to explore all the copyright and trademark angles, and found that they can't catch them on those as part of it, before considering the patent aspect.

This is actually a very Japanese line of thought: on the criminal law side of things, their prosecutors at least don't try a case unless they feel it's airtight, resulting in a 99% conviction rate... but an 8% prosecution rate. Can't say with certainty about the civil case side, but I won't be too surprised if they think similarly.

 

[spinal_cord]

Nintendo are happy enough to sue an indy company for using a similar 'capturing monsters' mechanic in a game, but I bet they don't have the balls to sue Sony for directly ripping off all of their popular games!

 

[tech3475]

Did some digging around on the Japanese-side of the discussion. Warning that is hearsay since I'm not good at Japanese (yet).

As a whole, the Japanese public is on Nintendo's side, and are condemning Pocketpair, under the thinking that "they're getting what they deserve". It seems that the Japanese perception is that "If Nintendo is suing them, then surely they're guilty since Nintendo never sues anyone unless they did something wrong. Whatever it is they're doing wrong, they need to be punished for it."

It's also partly with the perception that in their eyes, they're using the "small indie developer card" defense, with local Japanese indie devs responding "Don't you dare try to speak for all of us."

Addendum: Did some digging with the aid of Google Translate. While I'm not particularly good at Japanese, I know enough that a LOT of stuff will get lost in translation. Thankfully, at least one English-speaking native Japanese (who are supporting Nintendo, but otherwise open to listening from non-Japanese English speakers) is trying to their line of thinking. Interestingly, there's also evidence that support for Pocketpair from the Japanese do exist, but they don't speak up which makes sense given their culture of conformity, best captured in their saying:「出る釘は打たれる」 (the nail that sticks out is hammered down, aka anyone who sticks out too much gets punished).

It seems like the general sentiment around Palworld is their brazen mannerisms (extremely un-Japanese, to put it politely), and making hundreds of millions of yen from the ideas of others, while trying to paint themselves as a weak victim of bullying despite making hundreds of millions of yen, put together gives the impression of a greedy ruffian in their eyes. They are legitimately do not understand why "the West" is generally supportive of Pocketpair, when nearly every Japanese seems to be against them.

Also throwing in some (Japanese-only. Google Translate is your friend) interviews that were linked in the thread that understandably don't get featured in English which can shed more light on what they feel about Pocketpair as a whole. Make of it what you will.

https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/interview/190906a

https://wired.jp/article/why-stay-independent-5-pocketpair-takuro-mizobe/

https://www.gamespark.jp/article/2024/08/04/143842.html

Funnily enough, I saw this on Youtube this morning:

 

[Guacaholey]

A couple weeks old, but https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survi...awsuit-it-definitely-feels-like-a-punishment/

For people who don't already know, and I've mentioned it before, there's a reason most countries don't allow you to patent abstract ideas or concepts, just the way things work. Japan is a haven for patent trolls like Nintendo.

If you somehow managed to get a patent in the US for "Catching monsters and aiming in a virtual space" or whatever abstract idea they're trying to protect, that would get shot down during a trial and your patent would likely be revoked because it never should've been granted in the first place.

 

[Kwyjor]

Japan is a haven for patent trolls like Nintendo.

The term "patent troll" is typically applied to companies who buy up old patents and never do anything useful with the technology (if it had any particular use to begin with) but just litigate others mindlessly. That hardly applies to Nintendo.

If you somehow managed to get a patent in the US for "Catching monsters and aiming in a virtual space" or whatever abstract idea they're trying to protect, that would get shot down during a trial and your patent would likely be revoked because it never should've been granted in the first place.

Patents are enforced at a national level and that even if Nintendo succeeds in Japan, it's not going to stop the Palworld devs from doing business in the US.

 

[ChronosNotashi]

If you somehow managed to get a patent in the US for "Catching monsters and aiming in a virtual space" or whatever abstract idea they're trying to protect, that would get shot down during a trial and your patent would likely be revoked because it never should've been granted in the first place.

-inhales-

Sega had a patent for directional arrows in driving/racing games one time (i.e. the arrow used in Crazy Taxi). Even sued Fox Interactive for using a directional arrow in The Simpsons Road Rage. In the U.S., no less. Only reason it didn't get shot down was because they decided on a private settlement, so Sega was able to hold on to the patent and scare others into not using it (until a time that such games fell out of the public eye).

Not sure if you'd compare that to a patent for "catching monsters and aiming in a virtual space", but figured I'd just throw that out there.

 

[Guacaholey]

-inhales-

Sega had a patent for directional arrows in driving/racing games one time (i.e. the arrow used in Crazy Taxi). Even sued Fox Interactive for using a directional arrow in The Simpsons Road Rage. In the U.S., no less. Only reason it didn't get shot down was because they decided on a private settlement, so Sega was able to hold on to the patent and scare others into not using it (until a time that such games fell out of the public eye).

Not sure if you'd compare that to a patent for "catching monsters and aiming in a virtual space", but figured I'd just throw that out there.

It may be cheaper to settle, and unfortunately that leads to bogus patents effectively being upheld.