Nintendo Sues Palworld: The Shocking Patent War Explained! :UPDATE:

Nintendo be suin.
Edited by: ‪@Bloops‬
Additional Art from: @OfficiallyTCK
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#palworld #nintendo #pokemon
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[@SCREENDOORONSUBMARIN]

It is insane that you can patent the idea of catching monsters on an overworld map

[@alliesangalli1757]

The fact that a company can patent gameplay mechanics in general is so scummy. The fact that it's on an honor system at all is a huge problem.

[@Daltonisntabot]

I feel the same way. IP I can understand. It would be better if the game mechanics were fair use if everything else about it were different or 'transformative'. I also understand why it exists, because a game mechanic is a core element of a game and gives it an identity. Mario=Fire Flower, Starman, Mushroom. If someone took a mushroom that grew the player character, that's clearly inspired by Mario. The power ups are core mechanics. Catching Pokemon is a core mechanic as well. I could understand if Palworld used something else to catch 'pals' with. Like Elder Scrolls? Crystals. Maybe cards? It could have been anything really. However, that used round objects and some designs are very similar. One thing we have to keep in mind, is the mechanic of catching the Pals transformative in any way or exactly the same? How much are the mechanics similar to it compared to the rest of the game? So, my personal opinion, they probably should have given it even more of its own identity. From the outside, it does look very similar to Pokemon. I haven't played it, though, but part of me does hope I can get a chance to and it's not taken down.

[@mateus53415]

Developers patent mechanics because of a practice from arcade times. Companies outside the gaming industry began to patent mechanics and sue developers. Since then, developers have started to patent to protect themselves. There is even an ethic that these patents are only to protect themselves, but that the copying is not blatant, as in the case of Palworld.

[@AidanRatnage]

It's interesting that Nintendo is suing and not Gamefreak or The Pokémon Company.

[@saulitix]

Watch Moon Channel video about who owns Pokemon. Is a long and very interesting video but, long story short, technically Pokemon belongs to Game Freak, Creatures and Nintendo, but in practice Nintendo IS the copyright owner.

[@BackToTheGame.98]

I think you missed it, but yes, The Pokemon Company is filing jointly with Nintendo to sue Pocketpair.

[@JaidynReiman]

Its a joint file between Nintendo and The Pokemon Company.

[@BackToTheGame.98]

This is pretty scummy on Nintendo's part. In particular that they waited almost a year to sue.

[@m2pt5]

One company that didn't follow the honor system in the past was Namco, who had loading screen minigames patented. (The patent ran out in 2015, but still hardly anyone does it.) Edit: The picture you used in the vid suggests they only filed the patent application this May and it's still pending, so the lawsuit seems premature.

[@ThatGuyMN]

Everybody is trashing Nintendo and the Pokémon company based purely on speculation of what patents PP allegedly broke. We don't know enough to make a judgement. It could be nothing, or they could be something blatant they want to lay out. That being said, do I think The Pokémon Company has it out for Palworld? Sure. IMO, Palworld certainly "borrowed" alot of inspiration from Pokémon with their designs, and I'd be pissed if I was Nintendo. Should they sue them for that? I'd say no, but I think Nintendo is gloves off at this point. Like you said Shesez, I think this is more about honor and disrespect. Nintendo thinks it's scummy of PP to tweak things juuuuust enough not to get in trouble, so now we're going to get petty. Were going to look for a different direction to attack you. Nintendo has a strong legal team, and I have no doubt that they have been looking over what can be done to stop Palworld - not because it's a brand threat to Pokémon - but because they're pissed PP tried to pull a fast one and made millions of dollars in the process. Nintendo is absolutely villainous with their takedown notices, but I gotta admit, I think Palworld tried to fly too close to the sun. It was only a matter of time before Nintendo would find a way to get PP into court, and I think they wouldn't try if they weren't sure they were going to win. I'm not cheering for either side, but I think both companies don't have clean hands here, personally. Palworld is it's own game, but the amount it's borrowed from other things means it was always opening itself up to litigation.

[@katt-the-pig]

I think that's a shame. The pal designs definitely raises some eyebrows, but I don't think the game deserves all the hate it's received.

[@nathanmcclung3564]

This also means that nintendo at any time can cut down any games if they ever get any popularity by claiming something is like another even if vaguely.

[@errornull390]

Welcome to business kid, wait till you find out all companies are like this from Food to cars..

[@ravenebony2267]

I'm glad you made an update on this story.

[@LightsJusticeZ]

💯 this is a much more accurate representation of the on-going story

[@JaidynReiman]

Yeah I actually have noticed this. I have seen many lawsuits regarding video games over the years, but I have (almost) never seen one filed over patents. Trademarks, sure, but not patents. Definitely an odd situation.

[@hehehefunnyname9613]

Nintendo is just mad because pal world is doing something interesting with the monster collecting genre

[@mek2472]

Every monster collecting genre that isn’t pokemon is more interesting but people aren’t ready for the truth to be said cuz “pokemon started it first”(wrong btw) Also Nintendo doesn’t make the pokemon games gamefreak does. If Nintendo made the pokemon games they’d actually have some polish. Although as a Nintendo fan I don’t fuck with Nintendo for filing against palworld even if I don’t like it all that much from what i’ve seen. I really hope other game developers can learn from palworld to make their own monster collecting games (i just hope they aren’t as edgy as palworld)

[@hehehefunnyname9613]

@@mek2472 dragon quest monsters came out first Pokémon popularized it but the idea has been around for much longer. They just made it seem like they were the first

[@mek2472]

@@hehehefunnyname9613 yeah but ppl say it’s pokemon ALOT and it’s annoying.

[@hehehefunnyname9613]

@@mek2472 oh I miss read that oops

[@massdefection]

I still stand by the latest Digimon games (except Survive) have been more fun than Pokemon has been lately. Arceus has been the sole shining beacon of the series for me as it's the only game I actually had fun playing from picking the controller up to getting all the way to the end. But I always go back to games like Digimon World: Next Order and Cyber Sleuth because I just think they're better overall.

[@Luizanimado]

I hope stupid Nintendo loses

[@ravenebony2267]

So even if the makers of PalWorld broke the law ? IF they didn't, i hope Nintendo loses as well. But if they actually have a case, then absolutely i hope justice is served.

[@Luizanimado]

@@ravenebony2267 there is absolutely nothing wrong with what they did, simple as that.

[@Luizanimado]

@@ravenebony2267 what's next? From software sweing games that use dodge? Wouldn't that be stupid? But when Nintendo does it people say "well, it's the law"

[@ravenebony2267]

@@Luizanimado if there's nothing wrong with what they did.... what did they do?

[@Luizanimado]

​@@ravenebony2267Nothing, they just made a game inspired on pokemon, and Nintendo is jealous that they sold a lot

[@CaptBurgerson]

I think part of Nintendo’s bitter feelings towards Palworld isn’t just the resemblance and/or the success of the game, but also the online rhetoric that followed it. So many people were trying to promote the game, or hype it up by touting it as if the game was a big middle finger towards Nintendo. Whether or not that was the intention of Palworld’s creators (I doubt it tbh) that was absolutely the conversation around the game at its peak. Glad you made an update video about this btw

[@newmansan]

I dunno who is legally right in this lawsuit, but Nintendo is morally wrong in this situation.

[@Theliquidchaos]

Yeah, screw Nintendo, I'll keep pirating their games.

[@glitchmenlord4790]

How can it be legal to sue a company for a patent you didn't file until after the fact.

[@OneAndOnlyDanky]

I have a feeling that the reason Nintendo didn’t just file for copy infringement is so that they don’t want palworld to have an easy out. I’m pretty sure some models are very blatantly traced (or whatever you'd call the 3d modeling equivalent) from Pokemon models, but if that’s the case they could just change the models, and of course Nintendo needs it to die completely. I don’t even care about palworld, I also think it’s pretty damn lazy, but the precedent this sets is really bad.

[@lordneeko]

... Is palWorld really taking away their business though? I haven't known a single person that is into it

[@bluedart]

I had already watched that video you cited, so I had suspected this is what they were doing, but still hope to be wrong. Using patent law in this way _reminds_ me of soundcloud rappers that claim video game music on YT/Twitch. Bad touch.

[@YosherYoshi]

I will admit I don't care either way who ends up winning here. Nintendo/TPC needs a lesson to increase the quality of the Pokémon games back to where it should be, because it's just not up to par anymore. Pocketpair needs a lesson not to copy homework so closely. Both are stupid in their own way and I don't know who I'm more disappointed in.

[@joegomez5463]

I'm more disappointed in Nintendo, lmao.....Palworld / clones were inevitable. I'm sure even if they didn't copy "Too closely," Nintendo would try to find a way to shut it down, because its becoming too popular, and hurting Pokey mans sales etc.

[@YosherYoshi]

@@joegomez5463 In which case I would absolutely be more disappointed in Nintendo as well because that hypothetical scenario would have things be more unique. But right now it's certainly more 50/50. Can definitely see your point though!

[@joegomez5463]

@@YosherYoshi I see yours for sure as well tbh.

[@JacobTheCroc]

Nintendo wants Pokémon to be on top? They should make better pokemon games then that are functional on launch. Only ones that are damaging their IP is themselves at this point.

[@mek2472]

Again. Gamefreak makes pokemon games not Nintendo. Nintendo would’ve actually polished these games. It doesn’t help that gamefreak has like 150 workers. I agree that other monster collectors should be in the spotlight tho. However the hardcore toxic pokemon fans are too quick to scream “pokemon ripoff” so people are too scared to actually try and make a interesting game. The only reason pokemon is on top is because of the brand. I say this as a pokemon fan, that’s also why people don’t like newer generations. People LOVE their nostalgia and think everything after that sucks

[@WiiBobby]

I dont want Pocketpair to win. I just want Nintendo to lose.

[@OverFriedBread]

TLDR: This is not a defense of Nintendo, just my own two-cents on the situation, suing using the patent which would destroy the game is pretty f'd up, this was not the way to go about things, this is a very scummy thing Nintendo is doing. Yeah I def think it's a bit scummy that they're using a patent to sue Palworld. Now if it's due to the fact that Palworld is competition, I'm not too sure. Mainly I think of another game, that being Genshin Impact which at the start was seen as copying BOTW. The games do have similarities but are completely different, and Genshin has been a success yet Nintendo never did anything about it even though it can be seen as a competitor. Now with Pokemon and Palworld, also completely different games but with similarities, but the key difference I see is mainly that Palworld(at least on the surface) was more than just inspired by Pokemon when it came to the creature designs. And due to some of these designs being so close to Pokemon designs, one could argue that's the main reason behind the games success(being real though a lot is more due to the fact that pokemon's been on decline for a bit with the games, leaving fans wanting more yet not being given such, but instead rushed out, buggy products). Cause say if the creatures weren't so similar to Pokemon but the game still took off(everything is the same except for the creature designs), I don't think Nintendo would've done anything, it would be there first real competition for Pokemon, but it would seem like more fair game given that the game had was similar mechanics to Pokemon rather than partially stealing designs from it to gain a bigger audience. But honestly if Nintendo was going after the game for them to just change the creatures, I could kinda get it. But this patent thing, nah, I hope that the courts don't rule in favor of Nintendo cause if they do, this has way too many repercussions to even think of and could lead to the industry tearing itself apart.

[@pixelishious]

I think competition is healthy in the gaming industry for both devs and players. I think Nintendo breaking this honor system so they can be the only ones with capturing creatures for battle, friendship, etc. is really lame on their part.

[@CrypticMantisTX55]

I'm not entirely sure why we're assuming Nintendo is acting in bad faith If it's true that patent lawsuits are rarely deployed in Japan and often only in "f around and find out" scenarios like with Colopl, I feel like it makes more sense to wait to see what Nintendo's lawsuit actually is (since no one really knows; they're just taking guesses) before judging whether Nintendo is actually "violating the honor code" or not. I don't think that Pocketpair is just some smol bean little birthday boy with glasses when we can already tell their character design work is at best extremely lazy and at worst blatant plagiarism.

[@JaidynReiman]

I think this is a good point. The fact that lawsuits are RARELY filed over patents is particularly notable. A lot of people are making assumptions over this.

[@LilacMonarch]

The assumption comes from ninty's legal team often being extremely petty

[@robertwilliamson2856]

I don't think the fact that the PalWorld monsters look a lot like Pokemon is the only issue. Nintendo is probably most angry about the PalWorld monsters looking like monsters, and they also use guns. They view PalWorld as hurting Pokemon's brand because they believe that average consumers could view PalWorld monsters as actual Pokemon doing very violent things.

[@Blood-Moon-Pack]

they are doing it because they are afraid trashtendo is trash but its the fans fault so many games no one complained thats what killed pokemon they stoped carring because they say those losers will buy our game no need to worry and what do you guys get because i hate pokemon what do you guys get nothing new just some dumb cretures nerf of older once and new maps that to me is not a new game if it was world of warcraft and warframe woud have 30 games in 1 face it trashtendo simps they dont care for you they just want your money if they did care they will do what pocket pear dose give you updates on everything new not make a game and are like hers a game now give us your money we dont care about you we just care about your money im surprised they did not do a lawsuit on tem tem because yk that game is a creture fighthing game thats turn based

[@damianporter942]

it'd be harder to sue for the clear ripping off of creature designs, so i can see why they are choosing to do it this way. glad palworld is getting what it deserves.

[@CyberAngel573]

Yeah. I knew you couldn't COPYRIGHT gameplay mechanics because it "stifles creativity," but to be able to Patent them? I think it has the same result, and utilizing it to take out the competition is really scummy.

[@Xile179]

Save Palworld

[@KensaKunVRC]

I think Nintendo is suing prolly because of the whole “models looking like they were 1-1 copied”

[@Dremag_Gaming]

Despite the few "inspired copy" designs PalWorld did with some Pals. At least they made their own unlike fan games in which they simply reuse Pokemon assets instead.

[@TheLostAngileTLA]

Nintendo has stolen mean things from others' games & studios, monsters catching games were around before pokemon. Pluse, if you wanna get in to I'm sure you can find some old monster designs for other old games and do the same to pokemon.

[@rook6591]

Sorry you can patent game style dafuq

[@TheRealBatabii]

arse-us lol

[@reinatycoon3644]

Pokemon supports animal abuse. I could never get into the idea of Pokemon.

[@LilacMonarch]

well monster abuse but yeah