Palworld dev details the patents Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are suing for

Back in September Nintendo and The Pokemon Company filed a lawsuit in Japan against Palworld developer Pocketpair, and now we actually know why.

It's a messy situation and obviously given that it's Nintendo, a lot of media have wanted to know more specifics. So Pocketpair have put up a news post to do exactly that. Now remember this is about patents, not copyright, so it's not about any creatures included in Palworld.

Keep in mind, as Pocketpair make clear, that Palworld was released on January 19, 2024 here below are the patents that Pocketpair say Nintendo are using against them:

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]

Those individual patents were all applied for after Palworld was released. Looking through them it seems the focus of the patents covers game mechanics like catching creatures and riding creatures.

You might look at the dates Pocketpair gave there (which are correct) and think — well, they were filed after, so how can Nintendo sue using those? The answer is complicated. What Pocketpair don't say, is that these patents are from a parent patent which was registered in 2021 and approved in 2023, meaning it very much does end up applying here to Palworld.

What are Nintendo after then? An injunction against Palworld, a payment of 5 million yen plus late payment damages to The Pokémon Company and a payment of 5 million yen plus late payment damages to Nintendo Co., Ltd.

So if Nintendo / The Pokémon Company win, and it's entirely possible based on the patent situation that they might, we will likely see Palworld no longer for sale.

See more in the Pocketpair news post.

The situation goes well beyond Palworld though. These patents for such specific game mechanics could stifle creativity in other games, and allow Nintendo to go after other game developers if they choose to do so. There's a growing amount of monster catching games, and this could end up causing future developers to reconsider making one. What a mess.