Why Nintendo and Pokémon Company Sued Palworld

The developers of Palworld, Pocktpair, have unveiled new updates regarding the Nintendo lawsuit against their monster-taming game triggered in September. This lawsuit hails from Japan, inhibiting much speculation owing to my limited knowledge of Japanese as opposed to U.S. law.

Pocketpair has decided to disclose information publicly when the public needs to know new details rather than addressing single queries for updates from media like ourselves. Pocketpair announced that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company demand a “Payment of 5 million yen plus late payment damages” for each corporation on the plaintiff’s side.

The 5 million yen portion isn’t a substantial sum, translating to roughly $33,000 to each firm. The “late payment damages” remains uncertain, to be decided in court.

The complainants also wish a stoppage against Palworld. This action could greatly impact Pocketpair, blocking their game’s income sources.

Three patents that Nintendo filed in Japan back in 2024 form the backbone of this case. Some early conjectures from certain sources believed these to be the concerned patents, with Nintendo striving to obtain these patents in the U.S. too. Regardless of the dates, Nintendo’s actions can be seen as tactical, filing these patents post the release of Palworld, under a “Parent Patent” it has owned since 2021.

The initial two patents, Patent No. 7545191 and Patent No. 7493117 address the act of flinging a ball to trap things in video games and pointing that action with odds of capture exhibited respectively. Below is one of the images from the first patent. The third patent, Patent No. 7528390 centers on the method of boarding and riding other characters in a game.

Pocketpair emphasizes that it will stand its ground and put up a fight in the court.