Nintendo sues Palworld developers

Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair, the developer behind Palworld, for alleged patent infringement.

According to a press release, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company filed the lawsuit today, September 18, in the Tokyo District Court. “This lawsuit seeks an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that Palworld, a game developed and published by the defendant, infringes multiple patent rights,” the press release said.

“Nintendo will continue to take necessary measures against any infringement of its intellectual property rights, including the Nintendo brand itself, in order to protect the intellectual property the company has worked hard to build up over the years.”

In January, Nintendo said it planned to investigate Palworld and would take appropriate action to address any actions that infringed on intellectual property rights related to Pokemon. However, in June, Pocketpair said it had not heard from Nintendo or faced any legal action.

That has now changed with Nintendo’s lawsuit against Pocketpair. The game has been hugely successful, with 12 million copies sold on Steam to date. Pocketpair has plans to continue Palworld, including a partnership with Sony Music Entertainment to expand the Palworld business, and possibly add microtransactions.