(Bloomberg) — Behind Nintendo Co.’s fierce protection of wide-ranging intellectual property is a legal team adept at weaponizing patents against potential rivals. Now those attorneys are setting their sights on a studio that’s risen to prominence with a game the industry has dubbed Pokémon With Guns.
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Patent records suggest Nintendo may have taken action against Tokyo-based Pocketpair Inc. within weeks of hit game Palworld’s release in January, according to patent attorney Ryo Arashida. “Most likely, Nintendo and Pokémon officials actually played Palworld before amending its patent holdings to include Palworld gameplay,” he said.
Nintendo’s seeking an injunction and total damages worth around ¥10 million ($64,000), alleging that the game violates patents that cover game mechanics such as catching and riding pokémon characters and having them fight one another. But Nintendo also has other related patent applications pending, which may mean that it could claim further infringements, depending on Pocketpair’s legal response, Arashida said.
Nintendo declined to comment on either the case, now moving forward at the Tokyo District Court, or its legal tactics. Pocketpair said it will make its position clear through the court proceedings.
Nintendo’s aggressive defense of its intellectual property reflects the rising importance of its game character lineup, built up over decades.
In recent years, the company’s expanded the ways it monetizes its IP, opening amusement parks and a museum and launching products such as Alarmo, a $99 alarm clock that wakes users with signature catchphrases and music from Nintendo’s creations. The company’s also put more resources behind its push into Hollywood, with another animated The Super Mario Bros. Movie in the works, as well as a live-action film based on The Legend of Zelda.
The Kyoto-based company is known for its meticulous legal preparation, said Tomohiro Matsushita, an attorney at Univis Law Firm and a specialist in IP law. Before suing Colopl Inc. in 2017, the company amended a key patent in question, widening its scope, he said.
Here are some of Nintendo’s past victories:
Colopl Rune Story: Colopl settled with Nintendo in 2021 over a years-long suit that claimed Colopl’s free-to-play role-playing game Shironeko Project infringed on Nintendo’s patents. Known overseas as Colopl Rune Story, the game featured touchscreen controls that Nintendo said violated a patent related to the Nintendo DS Wrist Strap. Colopl paid damages of ¥3.3 billion after Nintendo amended its suit and more than doubled the amount of damages it sought from the original ¥4.4 billion.
MariCar: A court ordered go-kart company Mari Mobility Development Inc. to pay ¥50 million for conducting tours where drivers dressed as Mario Kart characters. The ruling was upheld when Japan’s Supreme Court dismissed an appeal in 2020.
Majikon: In 2009, Nintendo won an injunction against five companies that imported and sold flash cartridges that allowed users to play pirated software on the Nintendo DS. Shortly thereafter, sales of such majikon cartridges became illegal, with the first arrest taking place in 2012. A court order awarding Nintendo and 49 other companies ¥95.6 million in damages was upheld in 2016.
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