The patent infringement lawsuit filed by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company against Pocketpair's hit survival game Palworld remains ongoing in Japan. In a surprising development, Nintendo recently revised the wording of one key patent – but what prompted this unusual legal maneuver?
Since its January 2024 early access launch on Steam and Xbox, Palworld has taken the gaming world by storm. The open-world survival title sold 8 million copies in under a week and amassed over 25 million players within a month.
Players capture and utilize creatures called Pals to perform various tasks. The game's creature collection mechanics – particularly capturing Pals by throwing Pal Spheres – inevitably drew comparisons to Pokémon, earning it the nickname "Pokémon with guns" for its edgier take on the genre. Following its explosive success, Pocketpair partnered with Sony in June 2024 to establish Palworld Entertainment, a venture dedicated to expanding the franchise.
While Nintendo and The Pokémon Company had previously monitored Palworld (including issuing an official statement in January 2024), they only filed their patent lawsuit in September 2024. The case centers on three Japan Patent Office (JPO) patents – two concerning monster capture/release mechanics and one covering character riding systems – all filed post-Palworld's release but based on earlier 2021 Nintendo patents.
Pocketpair has since modified several contested gameplay elements. A November 2024 update changed how players summon Pals (replacing the Pokéball-like throw with immediate appearance), while a May update altered gliding mechanics from directly grabbing Glider Pals to using Pal-enhanced equipment instead.
These changes don't constitute an admission of guilt, but rather represent standard defense tactics in patent cases. As patent attorney Kiyoshi Kurihara explained, companies typically contest infringement claims, challenge patent validity, and implement design changes to avoid violations. He noted the legal battle remains fiercely contested with no clear advantage for either side.
The recently revised "ride mechanic" patent originally covered mounting and controlling specific "boardable characters." Legal expert Ryo Arashida observed that Palworld's pre-May gliding system – where players physically grabbed Glider Pals – potentially infringed certain patent specifications. The update replaced direct Pal interaction with equipment-based gliding assisted by passive Pal buffs.
Ironically, as Arashida pointed out, Nintendo's original patent application emphasized that "boardable characters" were distinct from tools like parachutes. This creates potential contradictions in arguing that Palworld's equipment-based gliding violates the patent.
Patent rewrites during litigation (when no new concepts are introduced) are legally permissible but uncommon. IP consultant Florian Mueller suggests Nintendo may have felt the original wording was vulnerable to invalidation claims. The revised language includes unusually emphatic terms like "even when" (rare in patent documents) that could represent a last-ditch effort to strengthen their case.
While Nintendo's precise motivations remain unclear, the case continues as Pocketpair keeps expanding Palworld with new content like the recent Terraria collaboration.
