Early Access: Palworld | Nintendo Files Patent Lawsuit

[ShiraNoMai]

Palworld devs really sitting there like "how far can we push this"

[Dragon Lord]

Watching the Pokemon fanboys having another mental meltdown on Twitter over this is fucking hilarious.

[Moonface]

I know this isn't the case but it would be really funny if the developers started making Pals closer in resemblance to existing Pokémon after all the comparisons that kept getting made when the game first launched. XD

Honestly though, this game reminds me a bit of AEW and WWE, where the latter viewed itself as too big to fail and stopped caring about doing what actually made a good product because people would consume it anyway, and then a new competitor came along that actually kept getting the attention of those fans and drew the ones away who wanted better, to the point that WWE started to change things in response to it. Now I don't expect The Pokémon Company to actually pull themselves together in the wake of this game (although I didn't expect WWE to do it either) but just thought it was an interesting comparison of sorts.

[Moonface]

Palworld | Official ID@Xbox Content Update Trailer
A new trailer for Palworld was shown during today's ID@Xbox showcase featuring new pals, and maybe a hint at something else to come at the end but as someone who doesn't play this game I may be mistaken on that part.

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I'm surprised at the multiple reveals of new content when the game just got a major update at the beginning of this month. I know it's only Pals but I can't say I often see games in Early Access sharing new stuff so shortly after doing an update.

[Moonface]

Nintendo Files Lawsuit Against Pocketpair, Inc. for Infringement of Patent Rights 
If you were expecting Nintendo and The Pokémon Company to file a lawsuit against Palworld back when it first came out and had a popcorn bucket ready for it, go grab that thing back out because now a lawsuit actually has been filed.

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.

Source: Nintendo JP

[ShiraNoMai]

They weren't specific about what it is they're targeting, but the fact that it's a "patent" infringement means something specific is being targeted, perhaps a gameplay mechanic (like how the creatures are being captured) or maybe a name is too close to a patented one, is quite interesting. I wonder if it took this long to gather the correct evidence to pull this suit cuz obviously they didn't pull the plug immediately on Palworld when this thing's been out in EA since January, and even the marketing beforehand showcasing it for longer

[queenzelda]

It would be hilarious to me if the Judge throws this case out on its a$$. I'd say if anything maybe it's the pokeball mechanic that Palworld has is kinda the same. With the monsters? They barely have a case impo.

[Mr EliteL]

Well gee man, it's been long enough, let's watch it all unfold, yay! *shot*

....just surprised it took so all this time but yeah they must've been stewing away at what they could do. I don't play Palworld and have no desire to but I at least hope nothing too big happens for them, perhaps just altering something but then again even if it's small, Nintendo might still find more problems. Or yeah, the case is dropped.

[Moonface]

Pocketpair Responds to Nintendo Lawsuit
In the wake of last nights news, Pocketpair have put out a public response to the lawsuit filed by Nintendo:

Yesterday, a lawsuit was filed against our company for patent infringement.

We have received notice of this lawsuit and will begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the claims of patent infringement.

At this moment, we are unaware of the specific patents we are accused of infringing upon, and we have not been notified of such details.

Pocketpair is a small indie game company based in Tokyo. Our goal as a company has always been to create fun games. We will continue to pursue this goal because we know that our games bring joy to millions of gamers around the world. Palworld was a surprise success this year, both for gamers and for us. We were blown away by the amazing response to the game and have been working hard to make it even better for our fans. We will continue improving Palworld and strive to create a game that our fans can be proud of.

It is truly unfortunate that we will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit. However, we will do our utmost for our fans, and to ensure that indie game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas.

We apologize to our fans and supporters for any worry or discomfort that this news has caused.

As always, thank you for your continued support of Palworld and Pocketpair.

Source: Pocketpair

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I have no idea how these sort of lawsuits work, but I would have thought Pocketpair would have been told what patents were being infringed at the same time they received notice of the lawsuit?
As for it being thrown out like @queenzelda mentioned, I guess it depends on what specific patents were infringed. I doubt it's just the capturing mechanic, because that would've been such an obvious infringement that I feel like Nintendo could've started this lawsuit months ago. Right now I'm expecting to see multiple patents infringed upon as the reason it took Nintendo time to put a case together.

Have any other games used mechanics similar to Pokémon before this? Like surely there's been some games that have done some form of monster capture system before Palworld came along?

[queenzelda]

Yes, Nexomon has used basically square looking capture mechanics but minus the bouncing. 

Also, I found something relevant to what exactly Pocketpaid is being sued for;

[Moonface]

If any of the patents Nintendo is going after this game for were filed after the game launched it really shouldn't be allowed to hold up in court.

[Moonface]

Palworld | Now Available on PS5
As announced during today's State of Play, Palworld is now available on PlayStation 5.

[ShiraNoMai]

If any of the patents Nintendo is going after this game for were filed after the game launched it really shouldn't be allowed to hold up in court.

The community note on that tweet mentions those patents specifically were filed in December 2021, so they'd be fucked for sure lol

[queenzelda]

Yea, I don't think Nintendo has any leg to stand on since there is not any Pokémon games that Nintendo has released anywhere on pc. So because they don't have a foot hold in the pc market, I hope the lawsuit won't stand up in court.

[Moonface]

Update to Patent Infringement Against Palworld
Pocketpair have put out an updated statement regarding the patent Infringement filing against them by Nintendo:

As announced on September 19, 2024, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Plaintiffs") have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against us. We have received inquiries from various media outlets regarding the status of the lawsuit, and we would like to report the details and current status of this case as follows:

1: Details of the Lawsuit
The Plaintiffs claim that "Palworld," released by us on January 19, 2024, infringes upon the following three patents held by the Plaintiffs, and are seeking an injunction against the game and compensation for a portion of the damages incurred between the date of registration of the patents and the date of filing of this lawsuit.

2: Target Patents
Patent No. 7545191
[Patent application date: July 30, 2024]
[Patent registration date: August 27, 2024]

Patent No. 7493117
[Patent application date: February 26, 2024]
[Patent registration date: May 22, 2024]

Patent No. 7528390
[Patent application date: March 5, 2024]
[Patent registration date: July 26, 2024]

3: Summary of the Claim
An injunction against Palworld
Payment of 5 million yen plus late payment damages to The Pokémon Company
Payment of 5 million yen plus late payment damages to Nintendo Co., Ltd.

We will continue to assert our position in this case through future legal proceedings.

Please note that we will refrain from responding individually to inquiries regarding this case. If any matters arise that require public notice, we will announce them on our website, etc.

Here are what each patent number actually corresponds to: 

1. The Pokéball and its mechanic of capturing a creature inside and/or outside of battle. 
   
2. The ability to smoothly switch between mounts capable of traversing land, water, and/or air.
   
3. Seemingly the mechanic of different values (low HP, item quality, etc.) affecting capture success rate. 
   

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Dear lord these patents are some bullshit, especially that second one. Palworld isn't the first game to do any of these things so I feel like the lawsuit shouldn't go through if Nintendo aren't going to bother any of the other games that have elements that would fall into what these patents cover.

I'm trying to figure out the late payment stipulation though. Does it mean Pocketpair are already late with a payment owed to Nintendo or that additional charges will be applied if they are late to pay?