Following last week’s shock announcement Nintendo is suing Palworld maker Pocketpair for the infringement of “multiple patents rights”, an IP expert has claimed it’s “exceedingly plausible” Nintendo crafted its patent applications specifically to target Palworld.
Writing for Gamesindustry.biz, Andrew Velzen – an associate at law firm MBHB – started by summarising some of the intellectual property discoveries legal experts have made so far since word of Nintendo’s lawsuit surfaced last week, starting with four key patent applications highlighted by Japanese attorney Kiyoshi Kurihara.
These patent claims, explains Velzen, all relate to different aspects of catching and/or riding “combat characters, “airborne rideable characters”, and “field characters” using “player characters.” Notably, all four patent applications were filed onto pre-existing “parent” patents by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company after the release of Palworld, and have ben accelerated to issuance using Japanese expedited examination procedures.
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