Pocketpair, the developer behind the hit video game Palworld, has issued a statement regarding patents that Nintendo and The Pokemon Company claim are being infringed by the independent studio. The Pokemon Company and Nintendo claim that Pocketpair infringes three of their patents and are seeking compensation from the company in the amount of over 10 million yen, and have issued an injunction against Palworld. Pocketpair says it will “continue to assert our position in this case through future legal proceedings.” Here are the details straight from Pocketpair.
“As announced on September 19, 2024, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the “Plaintiffs”) filed a lawsuit against us for patent infringement. We have received inquiries from various media about the status of the lawsuit, and we report the details and current status of this case as follows:
1: Details of claim
Plaintiffs allege that “Palworld,” which we published on January 19, 2024, infringes the following three patents owned by Plaintiffs and seek an injunction against the game and damages for a portion of the damages incurred between the date the patents were filed and the date this lawsuit was filed.
2: Targeted 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 requirements
Injunction against Palworld
Payment of 5 million yen plus compensation for late payment to Pokémon Company
Payment of 5 million yen plus late payment compensation to Nintendo Co., Ltd.
We will continue to defend our position in this case through future legal proceedings.
Please note that we will refrain from individual responses to inquiries regarding this case. If any issues arise that require public disclosure, we will post them on our website, etc.”