Nintendo seems to be preparing to sue Palworld in the US too, but this will prove difficult, according to expert
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair on September 18, claiming that the developer’s hit title Palworld infringes upon multiple patents owned by them. As patent rights are only valid in the country where they were granted, this specific lawsuit and its potential effects on Palworld are regionally limited to Japan. However, a Japanese patent expert believes there is reason to assume Nintendo may be preparing to bring up a similar case in the US based on patents currently pending approval overseas (source: Yahoo Japan).
Shortly following the announcement of the Palworld lawsuit, patent attorney Kiyoshi Kurihara narrowed down the possible patents Nintendo is likely planning to use in litigation (in Japan), identifying four patents that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company jointly applied for after Palworld’s Early Access launch in January 2024.
These four patents are divisional patent applications originating from two larger, parent-patents that were initially filed in December 2021 and are thought to be related to the game mechanics of Pokémon Legends: Arceus. But according to Kurihara, these parent-patents have their own divisional patent applications in the US too – two of which were applied for this year (US20240286040A1 and US20240278129A1).
Interestingly, both of these applications are filed for “Track One” examination – a prioritized (sped-up) review process. Similarly to the divisional patents registered in Japan, they describe mechanics related to mounting Pokémon and initiating battles by throwing owned Pokémon at wild Pokémon. However, it’s important to note that in the US, these two applications are still pending. In fact, Kurihara says that one of them (US20240286040A1) has been notified of Non-Final Rejection based on three sections of US Patent Law.
One of these is section 101, which has to do with whether an invention is patentable or not in the first place. Abstract ideas are generally not considered patentable in most countries including the US and Japan, and according to Kurihara, the US often treats software-related inventions as abstract ideas, making them ineligible for patent under section 101. On the other hand, things are a bit different in Japan. While software-related inventions can get rejected on the grounds of lack of novelty and the like, they are rarely rejected on the grounds of being abstract ideas. “At present, it can be said that [examination of software-related inventions] is generally stricter in the US than in Japan.”
Based on Nintendo’s actions, Kurihara says it’s safe to assume that the company is preparing for a lawsuit against Pocketpair not only in Japan but in the US too. However, it will be difficult for them to amend the patent applications to bypass the rejection while making sure they remain a valid basis for litigation.
