Summary
- Nintendo is aggressively pursuing Palworld in Japan and the U.S., aiming to assert ownership over game mechanics.
- Nintendo Patents seem more geared toward controlling a genre than taking down a single game.
- The company’s financial power gives them an advantage in a prolonged legal battle against Palworld, potentially leading to the game’s takedown in the U.S.
Palworld has found itself at the center of a major legal battle against Nintendo, a huge player in the gaming industry. The conflict started in Japan but is moving to the United States, where the stakes could be much higher.
Nintendo’s Problem with Palworld
This isn’t about characters being stolen or code being copied; instead, it’s about Nintendo trying to claim ownership of basic game mechanics common in many games. Nintendo is known for being strict about protecting its intellectual property and has gone a lot further than most people realize.
Nintendo supposedly has been using its resources to create patents to keep a chokehold on the monster-hunting genre. The legal issues between the companies have gone so far that Nintendo has had dozens of patents rejected, which seem to have a lot in common with Palworld. The real question is whether Palworld will make it through this situation and whether big companies should be watched more carefully when they sue indie studios.
Nintendo has been actively taking legal action against Pocketpair, the developer of Palworld, due to claims of patent infringement. This effort began when Nintendo filed a lawsuit in Japan targeting three specific patents related to gameplay elements that are similar in both Pokémon and Palworld. These patents focus on how characters are captured within the game, as well as the mechanics of riding and switching between different mounts.
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Nintendo is still seeking significant financial compensation, an order to stop the distribution of Palworld, and damages for the alleged infringement. At the same time, Nintendo has also been pursuing legal action in the United States. The company has submitted several patent applications that target gameplay features that Palworld shares.
Some of these applications were filed before Palworld was released, while others were submitted afterward, aiming to build a strong patent portfolio in the U.S. The goal of all these patents is to essentially not allow any other company, not just Pocketpair, to use features similar to Pokémon. This is further than a feature or a mechanic; this is like trying to patent a genre.
These actions show that Nintendo is undertaking a carefully planned and aggressive legal campaign. By filing many patent applications quickly, both before and after Palworld’s launch, Nintendo is trying to assert its intellectual property rights and limit competition. Their strategy of focusing on patents rather than copyright infringement indicates a deliberate choice to concentrate on specific gaming mechanics rather than character designs. This is because a design can be changed, but a mechanic is core to gameplay.
The U.S. Patent Office Seems Wise to Nintendo’s Tactics
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been careful and thorough in reviewing Nintendo’s patent applications related to Palworld. The USPTO has rejected many claims because they found them lacking in originality or inventiveness. This shows that the USPTO is critically evaluating how much merit Nintendo has when going after patents. This is leading down a dangerous road.
One example is U.S. Patent Application No. 18/652,883, which focuses on the “smooth switching” between riding objects in a game. Nintendo submitted 23 claims, but the USPTO rejected 22 of them for not being new or inventive enough. Only one claim was left, but it was only objected to, not fully rejected. The issue was that it relied on a previously rejected claim, so the USPTO said it needed to be rewritten as a standalone claim.
In another case, although Nintendo was granted some patents related to character capture (U.S. Patent No. 12,179,111 and U.S. Patent No. 12,220,638), there is still a lot that needs to be submitted and approved before Nintendo has enough to claim the monster-catching genre. This may have started at Palworld, but the number of patents the USPTO is fending off seems to show Nintendo never wants to deal with a competitor for Pokémon again.
The USPTO’s actions reveal a strict standard for patent approval, carefully examining Nintendo’s claims and dismissing those that do not meet the required level of novelty or inventiveness. This shows that the office is more than just a bunch of pencil pushers; the workers are actively trying to address the merit of each application.
It bodes well, but Nintendo has a lot of time and money to get all these patents in.
Palworld May Soon Get Taken Down In the U.S.
Nintendo doesn’t just need Palworld to go down in Japan; the company needs Palworld to be taken down in the U.S. That’s why Nintendo is extending the patents to the U.S. This is because Nintendo needs Pocketpair to lose any income it is getting from Palworld, and cutting off a big supplier of money would be a big win for Nintendo.
One major concern is that Nintendo could succeed in getting a temporary injunction, which is a ban on Palworld’s sales in the U.S. If this happens, it would stop all sales of the game in that market, leading to a big loss in revenue and hurting Pocketpair’s overall business. That’s the kind of thing that could make Pocketpair go under. However, Nintendo’s tendency not to work well with other console manufacturers could be its undoing.
Nintendo and PlayStation have a long history of competing. Sony originally worked with Nintendo to make the PlayStation, but Nintendo pulled out of the deal and worked with Sony’s competitor, Phillips. This was one thing, but Nintendo did it without saying anything to Sony before going public with the news, leaving Sony looking silly for announcing its partnership with Nintendo the day before.
Pocketpair’s recent deal with Sony is directly related to Palworld. It wouldn’t be prudent for Sony to allow a direct competitor with a bad history to take down PlayStation’s lucrative partnership. Microsoft also has gained a lot from having Palworld on Game Pass. Xbox has been pushing Game Pass to more platforms and wouldn’t want such a popular game to be taken down, either. While Nintendo is huge and has the money to make this last, Sony and Microsoft have a lot of money, too, and a lot of reasons to fight back.
Neither platform maker has stepped in yet, but it must be whispered in the boardrooms occasionally. Maybe they are both waiting for an opportunity to act because if Nintendo can patent the genre slowly but surely, the pair will lose out in a big way to take on Nintendo.
Nintendo Has a Lot of Money and Can Win a War of Attrition
Nintendo has a lot of financial power, which helps it fight long legal battles like the one against Palworld. The company makes billions in revenue every year and has high-profit margins, giving it a strong financial position. This financial strength allows Nintendo to outlast smaller competitors in legal disputes.
A “war of attrition,” in legal terms, is a strategy where each side drains the other’s resources through lengthy lawsuits. The party with more money usually wins, as the costs of prolonged litigation can be overwhelming for smaller companies. Nintendo can afford to keep fighting in court without worrying about costs, whereas a smaller company like Pocketpair might struggle to stay afloat if a legal fight drags on.
Nintendo’s consistent profits and strong cash flow mean they can hire top lawyers and experts for as long as needed, no matter how much it costs. Nintendo’s financial stability comes from having money and making smart business decisions and very successful products. Nintendo doesn’t introduce price drops often, and even removes deals that could lose money for the company.
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Nintendo obviously sees Pocketpair as a real threat to Pokémon. Players have wanted a grown-up version of the popular monster-catching game for a long time, and someone finally filled that role. Nintendo will give everything it can until something stops it. Worse, if Nintendo wins, there’s not much to stop the company from going further. The monster-catching genre may be the first as Nintendo attempts to patent staples from other genres.
This fight between Palworld and Nintendo hasn’t ended. While Nintendo has turned up the heat against Pocketpair, it seems like the main goal of the company is not just to take down Palworld. Nintendo may want to control the entire monster-catching genre.
