1 What patent infringement is How patent infringement is enforced How patents differ from copyrights and trademarks 2 Do we know what patents Nintendo is suing over? After months of speculation, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have taken legal action against Palworld developer Pocketpair on the grounds of patent infringement. Here’s what that means. Ever since Palworld’s January 2024 early access release, Pokemon fans have noted the clear similarities between Pocketpair’s game and the long-running franchise – to the point that many dubbed it “Pokemon with guns.
” The Pokemon Company was quick to address the controversy at the time, saying “We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokemon.” A couple of weeks later, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa added the company would “take appropriate action against those that infringe our intellectual property rights.” Now, the companies have jointly filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair , alleging in a statement that Palworld “infringes multiple patent rights.
” But while the lawsuit itself isn’t much of a surprise, the fact that it centers on patent infringement has some fans scratching their heads. After all, Palworld’s survival gameplay is quite different from Pokemon’s turn-based battles, and criticism of the game has mainly centered around unoriginal-seeming creature designs . To help you wrap your head around.