In a strange turn of fictional legal events, Resident Evil’s Umbrella Corporation has filed a lawsuit against Nissin Foods for infringing on its intellectual property rights. According to the official Japanese Resident Evil X account, Nissin’s Cup Noodles brand bears striking similarities to Umbrella’s Umbrella Noodles, which caused the latter to sue the former.
Image translation:
February 24, 2026
Complaint To: Raccoon City Superior Court
Plaintiff: Umbrella Corporation
Defendant: Nissin Foods Co., Ltd.
Defendant’s infringement of rights pertaining to “Umbrella Noodles” manufactured by Umbrella Corporation. The “Cup Noodles” sold by the Defendant significantly infringe upon the Plaintiff’s intellectual property rights.
The Resident Evil franchise has been using the Umbrella Noodles Easter egg for quite some time, first appearing as an item in 2003/2004’s Resident Evil Outbreak. Its most recent appearance was in 2020’s Resident Evil 3, where Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira would find ads for the instant food strewn around Raccoon City.
Looking at the “lawsuit” from a historical standpoint, Nissin’s Cup Noodles were developed in 1971, while the Umbrella Corporation was founded as a pharmaceutical company in 1968. Considering Umbrella was hard at work developing medicines and biomutants at the time (the first serving as a front while the second for military purposes), it’s hard to see them developing cup noodles within two years that can rival Nissin’s iconic brand. With that in mind, Umbrella’s claim against Nissin would likely not stand in court.
A mock commercial following the fictional lawsuit shows an Umbrella employee addressing those who accidentally bought the offending Nissin Cup Noodles instead of Umbrella Noodles. By mixing Cup Noodles with basil sauce and tripe, they found that they could recreate Umbrella Noodles with a 99.9% success rate. Employees who tried the concoction found it tasty, albeit with a bit of itchiness on the side.
Given that the next title in the series, Resident Evil Requiem, takes place in Raccoon City, there might be a chance that Grace Ashcroft and Leon Kennedy will come across their fair share of Umbrella Noodles packs or advertisements, which could be why Capcom posted the image of the fictional lawsuit. Then again, Raccoon City should be in ruins, so the chances of finding anything edible or readable there seem quite low. In response to the online shenanigans, Japanese users are speculating if there could be a more substantial collaboration happening between Capcom and Nissin this time, with many hoping for Requiem-branded noodles to drop.
Resident Evil Requiem is set to release on February 27, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and Windows (Steam).
