Nintendo Files Patent Infringement Suit Against Palworld: Comparing Japanese and Global Responses

On September 19, 2024, Nintendo announced that it has filed a lawsuit against game developer Pocket Pair Inc. (Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo) jointly with Pokémon Inc. for infringement of multiple patents in Palworld.

Palworld is an open world survival crafting monster raising game distributed on the PC game distribution platform Steam.

Since the early access version of the game was released on January 19, 2023, there have been many comments on social networking sites that the game resembles Pokémon.

In this article, I, a resident of Japan, will report on how the game in question now, Palworld, has been reported in Japan and what many people are saying about it on Japanese social media.

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パルワールドとは？どんなゲーム？価格や開発元の会社はどこ？どこの国？

2023年1月19日に、早期アクセス版がリリースされたPCゲーム『パルワールド（Palworld）』。 PCゲーム向けプラットフォーム Steam（スチーム） 上でリリースされてから、わずか3日500万ダウンロードを突破するなど、大きな話題を集めています。 そこで今回は、今話題...

Nintendo and Pokémon Inc. jointly sued the developer, Pocketpair

On September 19, 2024, Nintendo issued the following statement on the announcement page of its official website.

Nintendo Ltd. and Pokémon Inc. have jointly filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court against the game developer Pocketpair Inc. (Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo), alleging that the game “Palworld” infringes multiple patent rights.

Filing of Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Pocketpair, Inc.

Nintendo Co., Ltd. and Pokémon Co., Ltd. jointly filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair Inc. in the Tokyo District Court on September 18, 2024.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that the game “Palworld” developed and sold by the defendant infringes multiple patent rights.

In order to protect our valuable intellectual property that we have built up over the years, we will continue to take necessary measures against any infringement of our intellectual property, including our brands.

(Citation: Nintendo’s official website)

After this statement was released, various media covered the issue, with “Palworld” and “Pocketpair” coming in first and fourth on the Japanese X (formerly Twitter) trends, It became a major topic of conversation.

What is the reaction on Japanese social media?

Japanese media only reported the fact that “Nintendo and Pokémon have filed a lawsuit,” and few media explicitly blamed the developer, Pocketpair Inc.

However, the reactions on Japanese social media have been critical of Pocketpair, the developer of Palworld, since immediately after the lawsuit was filed, many people supported Nintendo and Pokémon with many posts like “Nintendo finally sued Pocketpair for Palworld,” and “We hope that Pocketpair will be punished.

In addition, since Nintendo’s strength in past patent lawsuits is well known among game enthusiasts, there were many comments such as “Nintendo’s legal department is said to be the strongest, so they must think they can win” and “[Sad news] Pocketpair, the strongest Nintendo legal department in history, has been taken on as an enemy.” Since Nintendo has made a move, many users predicted that the lawsuit would end in Nintendo’s favor.

Why the difference in reactions between Japan and other countries?

Looking at X (formerly Twitter), there are many supportive and defensive comments from overseas users in response to Palworld’s official X statement, but in Japan, there are fewer defensive comments and more critical comments against the developer, a difference in reaction.

There are two possible reasons for the difference in reactions between Japan and overseas.

Reason 1: Nintendo is perceived as being tolerant

One reason is that in Japan, in the past, when Nintendo has been sued for patent infringement, there is an image that “Nintendo is tolerant of copyrights and patent rights” and “Nintendo is tolerant of fan art/non-commercial rip offs, but will not tolerate those who try to use the IP they have taken to do licensing business”.

Although Nintendo has 130 game patents, including “Cross Keys,” “Charge,” and even “Sleep Function,” the company is not willing to license its patents to anyone, “We are making the basics available free of charge for the development of the game industry. However, when a company tries to imitate the functionality of the patents and obtain a license or monopoly profit, they file a patent lawsuit.

The impression is that “being sued by Nintendo” = “a case where there is enough reason to be sued or a case where they have gone too far.”

In fact, some Japanese users have the impression that in July 2024, Pocketpair Inc. in cooperation with Sony Music Entertainment Inc. and Aniplex Inc. will launch Palworld Entertainment Inc. to promote Palworld’s licensing business in Japan and abroad. Many people believe that the establishment of Palworld Entertainment may have triggered the lawsuit.

Reason 2: Lack of respect on the part of Pocketpair Inc.

Another reason for the many critical reactions to the developer Pocketpair in Japan is the “lack of respect” for existing games, including Pokémon, on the part of Pocketpair, which has come under fire in the past.

Even before this lawsuit was revealed, the company had been criticized by Takuro Mizobe, a representative of Pocketpair, Inc. for calling the Switch “shitty hardware” on X (formerly Twitter) in the past, and for quoting AI-generated characters and saying, ” I don’t know which one is Pokémon,” and quoting AI-generated characters, some have pointed out that he has no respect for the creators of the game.

The criticism was widespread, as his attitude toward the original creators and existing games had long been questioned.

The use of “indie games” as the subject of the lawsuit further aroused animosity

In addition, the statement issued by Pocketpair after the lawsuit was discovered also resulted in the Japanese users’ antipathy.

The problematic part is as follows.

We are a small indie game development company based in Tokyo.
Our goal is to always keep making fun games. This goal will remain unchanged and we will continue to develop games to bring joy to as many gamers as possible.

We are very sorry that this lawsuit may force us to spend more time on issues other than game development, but we will do our best for our fans and to ensure that indie game developers are not stifled and atrophied by the freedom to think freely.

(Citation:Pocketpair, Inc. Official X)

Although the above gives the impression that Pocketpair Inc. is a representative of indie games, it was pointed out that Pocketpair Inc. may not be considered a small indie game company in the first place, and that not all indie game developers imitate the company, which led to criticism from the indie game developers themselves. The criticism was also voiced by indie game developers themselves.

In fact, with Palworld’s production cost estimated at 1 billion yen and sales of nearly 70 billion yen, many people feel uncomfortable about being called a “small indie game developer.

Many have pointed out that the company is shifting the blame to the “major game companies” versus “indie game developers,” and this statement has resulted in increased criticism.

How will they fight against Nintendo, who has proved to be nearly unbeatable in court, remains to be seen

The “Palworld” patent infringement lawsuit has become a hot topic in Japan.

While many people overseas have made defensive comments, many in Japan have pointed out problems on the part of the developer, Pocketpair, Inc. as well as Nintendo’s past patent infringement lawsuits, and the future of the game is attracting attention.

We will keep an eye on how Palworld will affect future game development.

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