The hype is over for Palworld...but not the legal trouble; the Pokémon Company is finally ready to square up.
Palworld was one of the biggest hits of 2024 and at one point had the third most concurrent players in Steam history. In January, over two millions players were enjoying the survival Pokémon-clone at the same time!But the hype passed, and even with the big update in June, Palworld has failed to win back many players. Now, more bad news is in store.
Let The Lawyers Cook
On September 18, 2024, The Pokémon Company, along with Nintendo, filed a lawsuit for patent infringement against the team behind Palworld. Despite the Palworld devs basically giving them a blueprint for how to make a good Pokémon game, The Pokémon Company is out for blood, and understandably so given how obviously "inspired" the creatures in Palworld are.
Nintendo sues Palworld creators for patent infringement
Nintendo is known for aggressively protecting its intellectual property, and in this case, they believe that Pocketpair has copied a unique idea or concept. To win, Nintendo will have to prove in court that this idea is not only original, but also patentable – something that goes beyond creative works or branding.Now, Nintendo must prove that Pocketpair has infringed on a non-obvious, novel concept that qualifies for patent protection, which can be difficult in the Japanese legal system.
Patent rejections and risks for Nintendo
Nintendo filed two U.S. patent applications earlier this year in an effort to obtain quick approval. However, both applications received "non-final rejections" from the Patent Office. One patent was rejected for lack of "subject matter eligibility", while the other was rejected for being too "obvious". These rejections aren't the end of the road for Nintendo, they now have until October 19 and 31 to respond and address the issues.But Nintendo is walking a fine line. If the patents are too broad, Pocketpair could successfully argue that the ideas are not original, which could lead to the patents being invalidated. This puts pressure on Nintendo to make sure its case is solid, as any misstep could open the door for Pocketpair to challenge the patents and possibly invalidate them altogether.
We don't know how successful the lawsuit is likely to be, but they've probably been preparing the case for the last eight or nine months, so at the very least we can expect this to a lengthy case.
Are still playing Palworld, or did you move on?