PocketPair Addresses Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s Patent Lawsuit Over Palworld

On Wednesday evening in the US time zone, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company initiated a legal action in Japan against PocketPair, the developer behind the popular game Palworld. The companies alleged that PocketPair’s survival game “infringes multiple patent rights.”They emphasized that Nintendo will “continue to take necessary actions against any infringement of its intellectual property rights.”

Within a few hours of the lawsuit announcement, PocketPair issued its initial response in a blog post on its official website. The statement confirmed that the company has been formally notified of the lawsuit filed by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. They will begin “the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations”in regard to the claims made in the lawsuit.

An interesting detail from PocketPair’s announcement is that the company is currently unaware of the specific patents it purportedly violates.

The blog post continued:

PocketPair is a small indie game studio based in Tokyo. Our mission has consistently been to create engaging and enjoyable games. We are committed to this mission because we believe our games bring happiness to millions of gamers worldwide. Palworld emerged as an unexpected success this year, both for our players and us. We were thrilled by the fantastic feedback on the game and are dedicated to enhancing it further for our community. We will keep on improving Palworld and aim to craft a title that our fans can take pride in.
It is unfortunate that we must divert significant time and resources to issues unrelated to game development due to this legal action. Nonetheless, we are committed to our fans and to ensuring that indie developers are not dissuaded or obstructed from exploring their creative visions.

In closing, PocketPair expressed apologies to its fans “for any worry or discomfort”caused by this lawsuit. The company also extended gratitude to its supporters for their backing of both PocketPair and Palworld.

This marks just the beginning of the public statements from both parties, and further developments are anticipated in the upcoming months as the legal proceedings progress.

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