Palworld was one of the surprise hits of 2024, capturing the gaming zeitgeist by delivering a familiar experience with a fun twist. However, this success also caught the attention of Nintendo and the Pokémon Company, leading to both of those companies filing a lawsuit against Palworld developers, Pocketpair. Now there’s a newly added wrinkle that might have a big impact on the legal battle.
In the lawsuit filed last year, Nintendo and the Pokémon Company claimed that “Palworld, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights.” Now, these claims may be null and void after a decision by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Landing a big blow to the case the two companies were making against Pocketpair.
The agency has rejected 22 of the 23 patent applications filed by Nintendo that form the basis of the lawsuit, after finding that they did not meet the criteria to be considered new or based on any kind of invention. Additionally, the one patent the agency is willing to grant Nintendo will only be granted if the company agrees to the rejection of the other 22. Only having 1 patent claim is enough to continue with a lawsuit, but companies typically like having multiple infringements when going into this kind of case.
Of course, Nintendo is notoriously litigious and there will be an opportunity for the company to get this decision reversed. It’s highly likely the company will flex its legal muscles to appeal the decision and try and get all these patents approved. Although it gives Pocketpair more time to prepare its legal defense.
This will be an interesting case to keep an eye on, as it could have a massive impact on the gaming industry. Video games are often highly iterative experiences that build on ideas that show up in other games. If Nintendo is successful, this might greatly restrict the types of games that are made and released.