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Nintendo files lawsuit against Pocketpair, claiming Palworld copies Pokémon mechanics! Seeks ¥10M in damages.

Nintendo will go to court against the development studio Pocketpair which has recently gained fame with the creation of a game called Palworld, mostly known as "Pokémon With Guns." Where the company accuses it of infringing on many patents owned by Nintendo, including catching creatures, riding them, and making them fight, according to a news agency report on Kyodo. The Tokyo District Court froze ¥10 million (US$64,000) damages that could be awarded in case the case prevails.

Such has attracted attention due to the semblance of similarities to the Pokémon franchise, only darker. One can catch creatures called "Pals," engage in combat, use them for labor, or even fight other players. A semblance of Pokémon's mechanics brought swift action from Nintendo. According to patent attorney Ryo Arashida, Nintendo may have amended its patent filings shortly after Palworld was released in January, perhaps after testing the game's gameplay mechanics.

Of course, the complaint against Palworld seems to aim toward certain aspects of gameplay-possibly capturing or fighting Pals. Nintendo is known to defend its intellectual property aggressively and consists mainly of its slate of beloved characters and game mechanics.

The case is now in Tokyo District Court. While Nintendo refrains from speaking in detail about the case, it has assured that Pocketpair will get its say in the court of law. It is fairly evident that Nintendo intends to safeguard its prized intellectual property.

Nintendo has also protected itself well through its strong legal defense policy. Probably one of the latest is against the Colopl Inc. where the company was able to acquire damages amounting to ¥3.3 billion (US$22.1 million) after it was ruled that the Shironeko Project infringed on a patent held by Nintendo and the more recent fight with MariCar go-kart tours, which the company won with an award of ¥50 million (US$333,000) as damages for the unauthorized use of the characters of Mario Kart by the company.

While Nintendo continues to engage in the battle out of patents regarding its games and proceeds to increase their stranglehold into all domains of entertainment, their legal acumen represents one potable weapon in this competitive industry.