PalWorld Update! Nintendo's Lawsuit hits a SNAG!

[DerVVulfman]

Nintendo's Anti-Palworld Patent Assault Hits A Snag As USPTO Rejects 22 Of 23 Filings

by Alan Velasco (of HotHardware.Com) - Friday, February 14, 2025

Palworld was one of the surprise hits of 2024, capturing gamer zeitgeist by delivering a familiar experience with a fun twist. However, this success also caught the attention of Nintendo and the Pokémon Company, leading to both of those companies filing a lawsuit against Palworld developers, Pocketpair. Now there’s a newly added wrinkle that might have a big impact on the legal battle.

 

In the lawsuit filed last year, Nintendo and the Pokémon Company claimed that “Palworld, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights.” Now, these claims may be null and void after a decision by the United States Patent and Trademark Office landed a big blow to the case the two plaintiffs were making against Pocketpair.

The agency has rejected 22 of the 23 patent applications filed by Nintendo that form the basis of the lawsuit, after finding that they did not meet the criteria to be considered new or based on any kind of invention. Additionally, the one patent the agency is willing to grant Nintendo will only be granted if the company agrees to the rejection of the other 22. Only having 1 patent claim is enough to continue with a lawsuit, but companies typically like having multiple infringements when going into this kind of case.

 

Of course, Nintendo is notoriously litigious and there will be an opportunity for the company to get this decision reversed. It’s highly likely the company will flex its legal muscles to appeal the decision and try and get all these patents approved. Although, this at least gives Pocketpair more time to prepare its legal defense.

 

This will be an interesting case to keep an eye on, as it could have a massive impact on the gaming industry. Video games are often highly iterative experiences that build on ideas that show up in other games. If Nintendo is successful, the legal precedence set in this case might greatly restrict future types of games that are made and released.

[Remi-chan]

My response to this news:

Some important things to note, however. This only applies to the Nintendo Branch in America. The Japanese case last I heard is still ongoing and is somewhat riskier as that is where the devs of Palworld actually live and so does the game.

That said, Nintendo doesn't have a great track record of issuing patents such as this, they only got away with it with their SNES controllers due to that the idea for the time was actually original.

This patent in particular is likely not going to land, they'd also turn a large part of the corporate world against them which is heat Nintendo hardly needs given how much they are starting to fall off.

They do have something of an advantage in the Japanese courts due to proximity and them doing things like this in the past, Nintendo are absolutely fucking bullies and always have been, just like most AAA game industry corporations.

But very few have tried to claim ownership of a mechanic in a video game, especially not one so popular as monster-capturing or the like. This is a powergaming move by a company who thinks it deserves to own ideas, when it can barely fucking come up with original ideas to save its life.

Valve could be petty and patent Garry's mod mechanics and basically fuck over Nintendo on a lawsuit for TOTK but Valve aren't that fucking stupid, pathetic or desperate.

You'll notice Nintendo has widely avoided pissing off other big Triple A studios, reason being they wont pick a fight they think they cant win and that could actively be turned against them, thankfully the community for Palworld is also THEIR community, the community they have endlessly underwhelmed with an unwillingness to innovate, who got tired of their bullshit and found what they were seeking in Palworld.

So more than anything, Nintendo has actively turned a large portion of its community against it and incensed their critics (such as myself) even further.

They really do be speedrunning becoming the worlds most loved video game studio to being one of its most hated.

Think Unity still holds that record but good god do they have competition now!

[Demos "Rise Evil" Kerrigan]

Silly Nintendo of America, thinking they could win on North America. However... the lawsuit in Japan is not over yet and Japan tends to side pretty easily with Nintendo. Even the Japanese commoners side with the corporate. However, if Nintendo wins in Japan, Pocket Pair's headquarter (in Japan) will still be sanctioned, so they'll probably forced to move out and migrate their office outside Japan.

Let's wait and see...