Today, Palworld developer Pocketpair detailing the terms of the intellectual property lawsuit Nintendo filed against the studio in September. When Nintendo announced its lawsuit, it alleged that Palworld "infringes multiple patent rights" but didn't specify which patents were rummy wealth being claimed, leaving us to speculate about whether Nintendo was bringing its legal cannons to bear over .
Thanks to Pocketpair's report, we finally have confirmation about the patents forming the basis for Nintendo's infringement allegations. Nintendo's lawsuit claims that Palworld infringes on three Japanese patents: , , and , a trio granting Nintendo protections on creature catching and riding mechanics.
Pocketpair's report details the application and registration dates of the patents in question—all three of which were filed by and granted to Nintendo in the months following Palworld's release in January 2024. However, each filing asserted in the lawsuit is a continuation of a series of patents Nintendo had originally rummy win filed in 2021 during the development of Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
As IP attorney Kirk Sigmon explained in an in September, patent continuations—called "divisional patents" in Japanese legal practice—allow a patent holder to specify additional claims as an extension of the original patent. "As you go through this process and file divisionals, continuations, whatever, you are drafting claims that are more and more tailored towards assertion," Sigmon said. "You know more about what you can get and what you can't, and what you can also do is—if you know who you're going to go sue—you can draft claims to target them."
Pocketpair also reports that Nintendo is seeking an injunction against Palworld, which would halt sales of the game until infringing mechanics are removed. Considering that the patents Nintendo is asserting seem to cover some of Palworld's basic mechanics, removing and replacing them seems like it would take a lot of work. Additionally, Nintendo is seeking a combined 5 million yen (about $33,000) plus late payment damages each for both itself and The Pokémon Company.
If Pocketpair can demonstrate prior yono all app art—or other works that already contained what's claimed in the asserted patents—then Nintendo's patents . "If you're too broad, then you've given them a pathway to make the patent go away," Sigmon said, "because you've given them an opportunity to prove that it was already in existence."