Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s shock move to launch legal action against Palworld looks to hinge on a patent relating to how players throw Pokéballs.
Yesterday, Nintendo confirmed it was suing Palworld maker Pocketpair for the infringement of “multiple” patents – but did not detail which ones. Later in the day, Pocketpair itself said it was still to hear which patents it stood accused of breaching.
Now, fingers are being pointed at a recent Pokéball-throwing patent jointly filed this summer by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. Indeed, the companies requested this patent was given an accelerated review process – perhaps in preparation for this legal action now.
The detail here comes from Japanese patent attorney Kiyoshi Kurihara, speaking to Yahoo Japan and translated by Automaton.
The patent in question describes how a character catches a Pokémon by aiming and throwing a capture item, like a Pokéball, at a creature. Upon successful capture, the creature then becomes “owned by the player”.
In Palworld, players catch Pals by aiming and throwing a capture item, named a Pal Sphere, at a creature. Upon successful capture, the creature then becomes owned by the player.
“[It’s a] killer patent,” Kurihara said. “It seems like it would be hard to avoid if you want to make a Pokémon-like game, and it’s easy to infringe if you’re not careful.”
While filed this summer, Kurihara highlighted this patent had been filed onto a pre-existing “parent” patent filed by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company in December 2021, preceding Palworld’s launch. This means it could indeed be used in a patent battle with Palworld now.