Palworld Infringes Multiple Nintendo Patents, The Pokémon Company Says
Nintendo, together with The Pokémon Company, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the makers of Palworld, in Tokyo District Court. Palworld, created by Tokyo game developer Pocketpair, Inc., has been one of the most downloaded games of 2024, selling over 15 million units in its very first month. Quickly labeled, “Pokémon with guns,” the game imagined a world in which capturing and training cute, colorful monsters is not so family friendly.
More than just a parody, the game is also well done, with gamers noting that it is more well-made than Pokémon’s last attempt at a 3-D, open world game. Palworld seemingly beat Nintendo and the Pokémon Company, by blatantly mocking them and through flawless execution. On the copyright front, Pocketpair was able to walk the fine line between satirical reference and copyright infringement. Though the monster designs were close enough for users to get the underlying reference, Pocketpair made sure to only copy the unprotectable elements of the designs (think simple color schemes and basic animal shapes), with the protectable aspects of the monsters being different enough to avoid any substantial similarities.
Now, by announcing this patent suit, Nintendo is making it clear that it has multiple avenues for pursuing an intellectual property suit against Pocketpair, inc., and will try any and all methods, if need be. Whether it’s game play mechanics or the Pokémon brand itself, Nintendo is showing that it is willing to claim complete ownership of anything resembling the Pokémon game.
Why Patents and Not Copyright?
Unlike copyrights, patents can protect software functionality, regardless of how it’s specifically expressed. Software is protected under copyright, but only as a literary work, specifically as the literary expression of computer code. Independent creation of software that achieves the same functionality as copyrighted software does not infringe, so long as its code base is written differently. This would include the independent creation of Pokémon game mechanics as expressed in a different video game. Patents, on the other hand, can cover entire processes, including software methods, irrespective of how the methods are expressed in code. This means that a patent covering a game mechanic would include claims against any game having mechanics functioning in the same way, even when created independently without copying.
Will Nintendo bring suit in the US next?
Nintendo has secured multiple Japanese patents covering various gameplay features of Pokémon. Fundamental differences in requirements for patenting software inventions in the US may make it more difficult to obtain and enforce US patents covering those same features. For a video game feature to be patentable in Japan, only some meaningful connection between the game’s software and the gaming device is needed. This is a relatively low threshold when compared to standards for patenting software in other countries, such as the US and in Europe. In the US, software inventions relating to video games are frequently cited as being directed to an abstract idea without significantly more to transform the idea into something patentable. For example, inventions relating to the way Pokémon catching is implemented on the Nintendo Switch may be seen as nothing more than “rules for playing a game” without any significant or unconventional technical contribution beyond that.
Final Thoughts
We do not yet know what specific patents Nintendo will choose to assert against Pocketpair. Some of Nintendo’s more recent issued Japanese patents are still pending at the US patent office and have been initially rejected for being abstract ideas as mentioned above. This sort of rejection is not completely fatal and can be overcome by way of argument or amendment to the patent claims. However, it’s possible that whatever claims Nintendo obtains in the US will be narrow enough for Pocketpair to design around by releasing an update with slightly different game mechanics, while still maintaining the spirit of the Pokémon parody. Because of this, it’s likely that this patent suit in Japan is only Nintendo’s first warning to Pocketpair. Due to the strength of US trademark laws, it would not be surprising if a suit by the Pokémon Company for dilution of its brand may be next.
[1] https://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/en/2024/240919.html
[2] https://www.gematsu.com/2024/02/palworld-early-access-tops-15-million-sales-on-steam-10-million-players-on-xbox
[3] https://www.vg247.com/palworld-review-early-access
[4] Mazer v. Stein, 347 U.S. 201 (1954).
[5] https://www.copyright.gov/comp3/redlines/chap700.pdf
[6] https://patents.google.com/patent/JP7398425B2/en?oq=JP7545191
[7] https://bannerwitcoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Munira.pdf
[8] https://bannerwitcoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Munira.pdf
[9] In re Marco Guldenaar Holding B.V., 911 F.3d 1157, 1161, 129 USPQ2d 1008, 1011 (Fed. Cir. 2018).
[10] https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/applications/17949666
