The Pokémon Company and Nintendo have officially filed a lawsuit against Pal World developer Pocketpair. The lawsuit seeks damages against the Pokémon trademark, based on patent infringement. The Pokémon Company apparently went so far as to create a patent for the game's monster-catching mechanic to use against Pocketpair in the lawsuit.
Nintendo has a history of taking legal action, as well as sending cease and desist orders. As one of the largest and most successful gaming companies ever, it is rare for someone to stand up to Nintendo, for fear of losing in court. This means Pocketpair is taking a big step as they will challenge Nintendo and The Pokémon Company in their lawsuit.
Challenging Nintendo is rare
It's hard to have both the time and resources to challenge Nintendo.
While this new cause is just the beginning for Pal World and Pocketpair, joins a long list of lawsuits Nintendo has filed over the years. Lawsuits and cease-and-desist orders are all too familiar to Nintendo, as they have used the threat of the law to go after content creators, tournament organizers, and even musicians. When you look back at Nintendo’s history of lawsuits, it’s no surprise that Pocketpair joins this long list.
- Nintendo is infamous for the amount of lawsuits it files.
- Fans have also been threatened with legal action from Nintendo.
Over the years, Nintendo has been indiscriminate in who it has targeted with its cease-and-desist orders or lawsuits. While some have been corporations, others have simply been individuals, even with fan projects that have not made money. In 2022, Nintendo has launched a series of cease and desist measures, sending hundreds of messages to YouTube channels around the world for various reasons. Some channels were re-uploading Nintendo game soundtracks, while others were simply creating covers of Nintendo songs. These cover artists were also forced to remove their videos, for fear of a Nintendo lawsuit.
One community that had a particularly tough relationship with Nintendo was the Super Smash Bros. community. Over the years, many tournaments and events have been shut down for a variety of reasons. The Super Smash Bros. Melee The community fought to have their game played in tournaments.
With Nintendo wanting players to focus on the new stuff Smash Bros. games, the Scrum the community had to fight tooth and nail to get Nintendo to allow the game to be played without the threat of a cease and desist. Even the largest fighting game tournaments, like EVO, stopped including Scrum in their training so as not to have to face the headache of dealing with Nintendo and its legal team.
Nintendo does not look favorably on modifications to its games, and many popular modified games Smash Bros. games are not allowed on streaming websites for this reason. For years, players have played these modified games in tournaments, until recently, Nintendo has threatened to take legal action against any tournament that allows these modified games to play. Creators of mods for various Nintendo games have been sued or given a cease and desist order for simply creating mods for games, even for free.
The same can be said of emulation and fan-made projects. While the legality of emulation is murky and relatively unexplored, Nintendo hasn't waited for the limits of that legality to be tested. Emulation has been stifled by several instances of Nintendo shutting down emulation websites over the years, including fan-made games made for fun, not for profit. Nintendo has always been strict about threatening legal action against seemingly anyone, and some fans are wondering if this might have something to do with the fact that Nintendo was close to losing an infringement lawsuit.
The situation has changed for Nintendo
After being sued for infringement, Nintendo has become protective of its most successful properties
In the 1980s, Universal sued Nintendo over the release of Donkey Kongwith Universal stating that Donkey Kong it was a rip-off King KongAfter a legal battle, Nintendo managed to win the case, with Donkey Kong being different enough from King Kong to be considered an IP in its own right, as well as the fact that King Kong as IP was considered public domain anyway. It seemed like this case would change Nintendo, however, as they have become very protective of their brand after this casegoing on the offensive. Where Nintendo was previously seemingly the victim, it would overcompensate by taking legal action against all entities it believed were using its trademark.
- Nintendo was once defending itself from a copyright infringement lawsuit.
- After facing a lawsuit, Nintendo has likely started to defend itself from its intellectual property.
One of the most famous cases of legal action taken by Nintendo was a lawsuit against Blockbuster in the 1990s. Nintendo was unhappy with the fact that rental stores could rent games and make a profit, and Nintendo believed that it should not be able to offer games for rent. After laws were passed that allowed rental stores to rent games, Nintendo looked for other options to pursue Blockbuster.
Blockbuster was later sued for offering Nintendo strategy guides for rent, which it later lost in court. However, it seemed that the reason Nintendo took it out on Blockbuster is because they failed to stop them from renting gamesAfter being hit with a lawsuit, Nintendo decided to become exactly what it had previously fought against.
Representing the little man
Pocketpair could inspire those who can't react on their own
Pocketpair is the latest company Nintendo has in its sights, and it's very likely that Nintendo is simply trying to chase Pal World to be similar to Pokemon. The lawsuit appears to be referring to Pal Spheres as a mechanism similar to Poké Balls, which Nintendo has a patent on. However, after reviewing the lawsuit with Blockbuster, it is also likely that Nintendo is doing something similar again, and is just using the lawsuit as a way to attack a company it doesn't like.
- Many are siding with Pocketpair because of Nintendo's past actions.
- The case will be difficult for Pal World as Nintendo recently filed a patent for a game mechanic.
Furthermore, Nintendo and the Pokémon Company don't appear to be fighting a fair fight in this case, other than the newly created patent looking like a retrospective measure passed after they decided to pursue the lawsuit. Then there's the nine-month gap between Pal Worldand the lawsuit filed. It is certainly possible that Nintendo was gathering evidence, as they claim, but some feel that they were simply waiting Pal World to build their profit before going after them, rather than contacting them in the first place. While it is impossible for fans to know the full truth of the situation, it seems like Nintendo is throwing punches.
After a long history of lawsuits, there is a lot of sentiment against Nintendo and their practices. While Pocketpair may end up losing the case due to Nintendo's patent on the Poké Ball mechanic, many see the case as an inspiration to those who have been unable to challenge Nintendo in the past. Pocketpair may lose the case, but public sentiment is on their side, as they are definitely the underdog in this battle, and Nintendo has a growing resentment for their past actions.