Nintendo rewrites the mid-term patent in an ongoing lawsuit against Palworld Dev Pocketpair – but why?

Nintendo and Pokémon Company in Japan patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair open-world survival game Palworld In progress. In the latest development, Nintendo re-introduces a patent in the case, but what led to this strange move?

Palworld is an open-world survival game, with early access to its Steam and Xbox soaring on January 19, 2024 with its Steam and Xbox launch. It sold 8 million copies in just six days and sold more than 25 million in one month.

The game world is called creatures inhabited by PAL, and you can capture and use (read: vulnerabilities) to perform various tasks. The visual appearance of good friends and the way they capture them by throwing balls (PAL balls), is quickly compared to Pokémon, and the game even contains the nickname “Pokémon and Guns” with its dark, black humor. With the popularity of Palworld, Nintendo rival Sony soon Form Palworld Entertainment In June 2024, a new business aimed at expanding IP.

Nintendo and Pokémon show signs of closely following Palworld (for example, this one Official statement From January 2024 to Pokémon). But until September 2024 they Officially announced They are filing a lawsuit against Pocketpair in Japan to infringe patent rights.

The case involves Three patents Granted by the Japan Patent Office (JPO): Two are related to monster capture and release, and the other is related to horse riding figures. After Palworld was released, all three patents were filed in 2024. However, they actually originate from earlier Nintendo patents, which date back to 2021. In other words, once Palworld appeared on the scene, Nintendo filed a partition patent that was intended to fight specifically against Palworld's alleged infringement of the original patent.

Since then, PocketPair Has changed Controversial Mechanics to Palworld. In November 2024, the patch deleted the ability to summon friends by throwing the Pokéball-like Pal Spheres (now implemented by Pals right next to you when summoned). In May, another palworld update changed the way you can glide in the game – instead of just grabbing the glider friend, now you just have to use the babu buffered glider equipment.

It is worth noting that these changes through the pocket board are not guilty. Instead, as a Japanese patent attorney Kiyoshi Kurihara Point out At Yahoo Japan News last month, Pocketpair was following a three-pronged defense against patent litigation, which is “denied infringement, considered patent invalid and avoided infringement through design changes.” He also noted that Nintendo had no advantage because it seemed like a fierce back and forth when Nintendo pushed for patent infringement and Pocketpair pushed for patent invalidation.

In short, Nintendo Riding Machinery Patent (Recently abruptly rewrite) covers a system for installing and manipulating pre-selected “board roles” (Dr. Kyle). Comment X, Japanese lawyer Ryo Arashida Point out It can be argued that Palworld's glider friend worked before the May update infringed part of the patent specification, i.e., about the person who players grab and hang from a board-capable character, and subsequent control of the movement.

Before the May Palworld update, you can glide with the actual glider PAL (by grabbing the foot). However, after the update, players must use a piece of equipment – glider – to glide, rather than actually using the friend itself. Instead, good friends now act as passive polish on gliding.

Ironically, as Arashida Famousthe main argument that Nintendo was awarded the patent first was that the “board role” was a special role, not a tool such as a parachute. “So, claiming in the lawsuit that the 'glider' (which is a tool) is 'board role' will create a contradiction.”

This month, Nintendo re-introduced the patent for riding machinery. It is legal to reintroduce the patent's interim case as long as it does not introduce any new concepts or technical issues. But, as IP consultant Florian Mueller pointed out GamesFraythis tends to occur only when the litigant (in this case, Nintendo) considers the patent to be “a risk to be considered invalid in its original form”. Nintendo rewrites the patent to make it more detailed. Mueller focuses on joining the (-Attemo In Japanese), it is pointed out that “even” is rarely used in patents because it is “overemphasized and subjective”.

While it is not clear what motives are behind Nintendo's sudden reword reword, it has the potential to use it as a final strategy to make patent claims that are considered invalid more difficult.

The case continues. Meanwhile, PocketPair continues to update Palworld with new features such as the recently released Terraria Crossover.

Verity Townsend is a Japanese freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for Game News website Automaton West. She also wrote articles about Japanese culture and film for various publications.