Analysts think they have figured out which patent Nintendo intends to utilize to win its case after Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a shocking patent lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair. Pocketpair later released a statement in which it claimed it did not know which patents it was accused of infringing.
Speaking to Yahoo Japan about the lawsuit (translated by Automaton), Japanese patent attorney and intellectual property adviser Kiyoshi Kurihara mentioned a “killer patent” that centered on the process of actually catching Pokémon.
Kurihara is cited as stating, “It looks like it would be impossible to avoid if you want to build a Pokémon-type game, and it is easy to infringe if you are not careful.”
Palworld’s crafting and survival mechanics are often more akin to those of Ark than Pokémon. Palworld’s Pals and Pokémon were compared following the latter’s major release earlier this year, with some accusing Pocketpair of “ripping off” Pokémon designs. Instead of suing for copyright infringement, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have chosen to pursue patents.
Kurihara found four divisional patent applications that, following Palworld’s January launch, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company jointly filed. Isolated content from a parent patent that has already been registered is included in a divisional patent. According to Automaton, the patent Kurihara feels is the main subject here, Patent No. 7545191, explains:
Aiming a Pokémon Ball (a capture item) at a character that has been placed on the field (a Pokémon), releasing the ball in a direction that the player chooses, determining whether or not capturing is successful upon contact between the capture item and Pokémon, and updating the Pokémon’s status to “owned by the player” upon successful capture. Moreover, the capture probability mechanism—which can employ colors, images, or numbers—is covered by the patent and is shown to the player.
The fact that Patent No. 7545191 and three similar ones were only approved in August may help to explain why Nintendo delayed announcing its complaint. Automaton notes that the four divisional patents’ parent patent was filed in December 2021, making them legally enforceable against Palworld, which debuted in January 2024. Nintendo has not yet made the patents that it claims Pocketpair has violated public.
It is important to note that Palworld does have a feature that allows players to capture monsters in a field by tossing a ball-shaped device, known as a Pal Sphere, at them; this feature could be crucial to the lawsuit. Kurihara proposed that in their legal battle with Pocketpair, the creator of Palworld, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company file the four division patents for a particular purpose. Regarding Pocketpair, the company has apologized to players who were worried about the game’s future and stated that it will grudgingly look into the patent infringement charges while keeping Palworld updated despite the lawsuit.
Palworld broke records for concurrent player count and sales when it launched earlier this year for $30 on Steam and went straight into Game Pass on Xbox and PC. Palworld’s launch was so successful that the developer was unable to manage the enormous earnings the game brought in, according to Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe. Nevertheless, Pocketpair moved quickly to take advantage of Palworld’s breakthrough success, striking an agreement with Sony to establish a new company named Palworld Entertainment, which will be in charge of developing the IP.
Speaking of Sony, there are strong rumors that the PlayStation launch announcement for Palworld will take place during this month’s Tokyo Game Show. Since Pocketpair hinted about a PlayStation release in June, this should not be shocking. TGS is scheduled for September 26–29.
Although the number of players has somewhat decreased since Palworld’s sensational launch, it is still among the most played games on Steam, ranking comfortably in the top 100 on Valve’s platform (Microsoft does not provide player counts for Windows PCs and Xbox One).
