Nintendo faces strong defence from Pocketpair after patent war

Palworld maker Pocketpair presented a strong defence against Nintendo’s lawsuit. The game developer presented a wide number of responses to Nintendo, from Octopath Traveller to Far Cry 5. The patent war started in September 2024 after Nintendo and the Pokémon Company sued Pocketpair. 

Nintendo claimed that Palworld had several patents that were held by them. Pocket Pair publicly said it would fight the lawsuit in court but didn't reveal the details. The first strong response came from the developer recently during the hearing held at the Tokyo District Court. 

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Nintendo vs Pocketpair legal battle

One patent was capturing the creatures and releasing them into the battle. The developer argued that these elements were present even at the time of the 2021 patent filing. The company also played their old game, Craftopia, which illustrated their claims and has nothing to do with Nintendo’s claims. 

They also displayed Titanfall 2, Far Cry 5, Tomb Raider and Octopath Traveller, which gave a strong defence for Pocketpair. These games were the defence points against Patent JP7545191, which was related to the creature capture system.

Another patent, JP7493117, describes capturing an item and calculating creature capture chances. For this, the company argued with Dark Souls 3, which allows players to capture enemies and use them against one another. The final patent, JP7528390, claims a system to switch rideable objects such as pals or Pokémon. They pointed to ARK, which has nothing to do with Nintendo’s claims and called them invalid. Pocketpair submitted the arguments on January 31, 2025, and the investigation is ongoing. 

Nintendo is a big brand that sells both consoles and games, unlike Pocketpair, which only sells games. But the two developers battling each other in Japan is new for the rest of the world, and the verdict is expected to be given in a few months. 

Nintendo’s next-gen console, Switch 2, will be released this June and priced at $499 with the Mario Kart Bundle. But its US release and price are uncertain due to the ongoing tariff war between the United States government and the rest of the world.

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