Palworld became a real craze overnight after its launch in early access at the beginning of the year — and, naturally, its popularity was driven by the many similarities to Pokémon. Well, apparently, these similarities with the iconic Ash and Pikachu franchise could cost Pocketpair dearly, which has just been sued by Nintendo.
Palworld presents a wide variety of monsters that can be fought, captured, trained, used in battles and whatever else you want. Certainly, several of them have designs that are very reminiscent of those of Pokémon.
Nintendo and Pokémon Company are suing Pocketpair, developer of Palworld.Source: Nintendo
When the game launched into early access in January, many fans wondered how long it would take before Nintendo and the Pokémon Company took legal action against it. The Japanese giant is known for being quick on the trigger, but in this process it took a while.
Nintendo is suing the owner of Palworld for patent infringement
As a result, Nintendo and Pokémon Company went to the Tokyo District Court last Wednesday morning (18) to sue Pocketpair for violating both companies’ patents. “This lawsuit seeks an injunction against infringement and damages, on the grounds that Palworlda game developed and released by the defendant, infringes several patent rights,” Nintendo’s statement read.
Palworld is said by many to be a “Pokémon with guns”.Source: Steam
“Nintendo will continue to take necessary measures against any infringement of its intellectual property rights, including the Nintendo brand itself, to protect the intellectual properties it has worked hard to establish over the years,” concluded the Japanese giant.
In a statement this Thursday (19), Pocketpair stated that it is “truly regrettable that we are forced to allocate significant time to issues unrelated to game development.” The company also said that it does not know the reasons that led to the process.
“We have received notice of this lawsuit and will initiate appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the allegations of patent infringement, the company said. “At this time, we are not aware of the specific patents that we are accused of infringing, and we have not been notified of such details .”
Nintendo needs “irrefutable proof” to sue Pocketpair, says lawyer
Earlier this year, David Hansel, intellectual property and digital media lawyer at Hanel Henson, told VGC that Nintendo would need “irrefutable proof” for any copyright case to be successful.
“It is up to Nintendo to absolutely prove copying, not merely influence,” explained the lawyer. “It has to be an obvious copy: you look at one image and look at the one next to it. The industry would have come to an end years ago if you weren’t allowed to have influence. You can’t have a monopoly on a certain style of art. It literally has to be a copy.”
Will the Nintendo wins the case against the creator of Palworld? Comment your opinion on the subject on social media Voxel!
Source: https://www.tecmundo.com.br/voxel/289767-nintendo-pokemon-company-finalmente-processam-dona-palworld-entenda.htm
