Nintendo Alters Patent Mid-Lawsuit Against Palworld Dev Pocketpair

The patent infringement lawsuit filed by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company in Japan against Pocketpair's open-world survival game Palworld is still ongoing. In a recent development, Nintendo has revised the wording of one of the patents involved in the case, but what prompted this unusual move?

Palworld is an open-world survival game that saw a meteoric rise in popularity following its early access launch on Steam and Xbox on January 19, 2024. It sold eight million copies in under a week and amassed over 25 million players within a month.

The game's world is filled with creatures known as Pals, which players can capture and utilize—or rather, exploit—to perform a variety of tasks. The visual design of the Pals and the method of capturing them using a thrown ball, the Pal Sphere, quickly drew comparisons to Pokémon. The game even earned the nickname "Pokémon with guns" for its darker, humor-infused take on the creature-collecting genre. Following Palworld's explosive popularity, Nintendo's rival Sony partnered with Pocketpair to establish Palworld Entertainment in June 2024, a new venture focused on expanding the intellectual property.

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company had previously indicated they were monitoring Palworld's progress, such as through an official statement released by The Pokémon Company in January 2024. However, it wasn't until September 2024 that they publicly announced the filing of a lawsuit in Japan against Pocketpair for alleged patent infringement.

The lawsuit centers on three patents granted by the Japan Patent Office (JPO): two concerning the capture and release of monsters, and one related to riding characters. While all three patents were filed in 2024, after Palworld's release, they are actually derived from earlier Nintendo patents dating back to 2021. This suggests that once Palworld entered the market, Nintendo filed divisional patents specifically tailored to counter what it perceived as infringement of its original patents by Palworld.

Since the lawsuit began, Pocketpair has implemented modifications to the game mechanics in question. A patch released in November 2024 removed the ability to summon Pals by throwing Pal Spheres reminiscent of Poké Balls; Pals now simply appear beside the player when summoned. Another update in May changed the gliding mechanics—instead of physically latching onto specific Glider Pals, players now use a piece of equipment called a Glider, which is enhanced by passive buffs from Pals.

It is important to note that these changes do not constitute an admission of guilt by Pocketpair. As Japanese patent attorney Kiyoshi Kurihara explained in a recent Yahoo Japan news piece, Pocketpair is adhering to the standard three-pronged defense strategy in patent lawsuits: deny the infringement, challenge the validity of the patents, and implement design changes to avoid infringement. Kurihara also observed that Nintendo does not hold a clear advantage, as both sides are engaged in a vigorous legal battle, with Nintendo asserting patent infringement and Pocketpair challenging the patents' validity.

In summary, Nintendo's ride mechanic patent—the one recently reworded—covers a system for mounting and controlling pre-selected "boardable characters" (tōjō kyarakuta). Japanese lawyer Ryo Arashida commented on X that one could argue Palworld's original Glider Pal mechanics, prior to the May update, infringed upon certain specifications of this patent. This included the player grabbing onto and hanging from the boardable character and controlling its subsequent movement.

Before the May update, players could use an actual Glider Pal for aerial travel by holding onto its feet. After the update, gliding requires the use of a Glider equipment piece, with Pals providing passive enhancements rather than being actively used.

Ironically, as Arashida pointed out, a key argument Nintendo used to get the patent approved was that a "boardable character" was distinctly a character, not a tool like a parachute. "Therefore," he noted, "claiming in the lawsuit that a 'Glider'—which is a tool—qualifies as a 'boardable character' would create a contradiction."

This month, Nintendo rephrased the patent covering the ride-switching mechanic. It is legally permissible to amend a patent's wording during a case, provided no new concepts or technical matter are introduced. However, as IP consultant Florian Mueller highlighted on GamesFray, such a step is typically only taken when the patent holder feels the original version faces a significant risk of being declared invalid. Nintendo's revision made the patent text more detailed. Mueller focused on the addition of the phrase "even when" (-attemo in Japanese), noting that the word "even" is seldom used in patents because it is considered "too emphatic and subjective."

While Nintendo's precise motivations for the rewording are unclear, it may be a last-ditch effort to strengthen the patent claim and make it more resistant to being dismissed as invalid.

The legal proceedings continue. In the meantime, Pocketpair remains active in updating Palworld, recently introducing new features such as a crossover event with Terraria.