Late yesterday, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair, the developer of the monster-collecting open-world game Palworld, alleging it infringed upon their patents. Initial reports did not specify which patents were being infringed upon, and it turns out the defendants in the case aren't sure either.

Pocketpair issued a public response to the lawsuit this morning, claiming that they are "unaware of the specific patents [they] are accused of infringing upon," and "have not been notified of such details." They have begun "investigations into the claims of patent infringement," and while they will continue working on Palworld, they regret that they "will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit." More than that, they believe they have an opportunity to "ensure that indie game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas" and plan to do what they can in pursuit of that goal.

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[DragonMals]

I dont know which side to go upon, but considering their usual reputation, I'll continue to watch the fans of Nintendo hate upon them. It's almost like comfort food at this point

 

[Noctosphere]

 

[AlexMCS]

About time. I mean, it was blatantly obvious.

 

[diggeloid]

So Nintendo is becoming a patent troll now?

 

[antiNT]

Copyrighting game mechanics should be illegal

 

[AndorfRequissa]

I'll continue to watch the fans of Nintendo hate upon them during this period of 2024.

if there are people supporting nintendo in this one they are the worst type of humans imo. sub human losers. this is a waste of everyones time and nintendo has further ruined their reputation imo.

 

[McPringles]

I can't even imagine what patent this would infringe on that other monster-taming games don't - the only thing I can think of is so extremely stupid that it might be the only explanation for why Nintendo is deliberately withholding details: they've patented 'throwing ball-like objects as a means of acquiring monsters' or something similar, which hardly seems valid.

Like, think about it. Older Dragon Quest: Monsters games used tossing meat as a bribe; newer DQ:M games use a scanning system, similar to what most Digimon games use. Monster Farm/Rancher has a disc summoning or fusion system. Nexomon, Temtem, Pocket Mortys? None of those use anything explicitly orblike, even if the functionality is the same. Cassette Beasts, obviously, uses tapes. SMT games generally use negotiations or just random picking. Palworld is the only big-name monster catcher to use something deliberately like a ball.

 

[The Catboy]

Considering even Pokémon company’s CEO didn’t see anything, I think it’s fair to say there never was anything

 

[Wolfy]

Wondering if they'll go after Temtem as well at some point if they win or settle, but I seriously doubt they'll win.

 

[SDA]

Boom bang. Nintendo strikes, Palworld strikes back.

 

[TheGlitch]

I hope ninty doesn't win

 

[Valwinz]

I really hope Nintendo loses

 

[MysticStarlight]

Nintendo should just fuck off.

 

[Cranesbill]

Damn ._.

 

[HinaNaru Cutie]

nintendo is gonna win the lawsuit and im gonna laugh my ass off at the fact that it was pretty darn obvious what was going on compared to tem tem being original as heck while palworld whether you hate nintendo or not?? was pretty much infact having none original mons that were darn close to pokemon man it was noticeable..if palworld wins thats nice i suppose? but at this point i highly doubt it.

 

[antiNT]

nintendo is gonna win the lawsuit and im gonna laugh my ass off at the fact that it was pretty darn obvious what was going on compared to tem tem being original as heck while palworld whether you hate nintendo or not?? was pretty much infact having none original mons that were darn close to pokemon man it was noticeable..if palworld wins thats nice i suppose? but at this point i highly doubt it.

The lawsuit is not about the monster designs, it's about patents

 

[MysticStarlight]

I am curious. Back in 1998 Naughty Dog took inspiration on Mario Kart's mechanics, and made Crash Team Racing. I thought Palworld was a similar case? A game inspired by Pokémon? How come they're now commiting a "patent infringement?"

 

[TheGlitch]

I am curious. Back in 1998 Naughty Dog took inspiration on Mario Kart's mechanics, and made Crash Team Racing. I thought Palworld was a similar case? A game inspired by Pokémon? How come they're now commiting a "patent infringement?"

They're not commiting a "patent infringement," nintendo just wants everyone to believe that.

 

[Noctosphere]

IMHO, nobody should be able to patent gameplay mechanics. Also, fan games should fall under "fair use" as long as they respect certain conditions (such as making no revenue of any kind)
Code are something else and I can understand when companies want to protect their complexe algorithmes and all, but there should be a limit to what you can legally protect.