Nintendo’s Lawsuit Against Pocketpair in Japan Have Involved Many Changes to Patents

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It’s been considered strange by an intellectual property (IP) law expert that Nintendo, while involved in a patent-based lawsuit against the developers of Palworld, has made alterations to those very patents in Japan. Further details have emerged from a report by IGN, shedding light on these unusual actions taken by Nintendo.

Essentially, the legal dispute centers around Nintendo’s three key patents, issued by the Japanese Patent Office, which primarily concern gameplay mechanics. Two of these patents focus on capturing and releasing digital creatures, while the third patent is about the ability to ride captured creatures. In response to this lawsuit and these patents, Pocketpair has been making adjustments to Palworld, for instance, by having Pals appear next to the player when summoned, instead of being ridden or released.

Kiyoshi Kurihara, a Japanese patent attorney, explained that Pocketpair’s modifications were integral to a threefold approach aimed at countering Nintendo’s lawsuit: denying the allegation of infringement, contesting the validity of the patents, and altering designs to prevent further infringement. Meanwhile, another legal representative, Ryo Arashida, highlighted on social media platform X that the term “creature riding patent” (tōjō kyarakuta in Japanese, or “boardable characters”) was deliberately chosen by Pocketpair to describe the player’s mount as a “character” rather than a tool. According to Arashida, this distinction is crucial because claiming a ‘Glider’ (a tool) to be a ‘boardable character’ would lead to an inconsistency in the lawsuit.

As a gamer, I recently came across some intriguing updates regarding a popular game’s patent. Games Fray’s Florian Mueller, a well-known figure in the gaming community, has expressed his puzzlement over the company’s unusual moves, labeling them as “weird”. Upon scrutinizing the translated patent, he pointed out that the wording seemed intentionally complex and convoluted, making simple matters appear more intricate than they actually are. Here’s a snippet of the patent quote for your perusal:

[Insert Quote]

This complexity in language is what has piqued Florian Mueller’s interest and left him questioning the company’s intentions.

…if you’re controlling a ground-based character during gameplay but give a command while your player character is airborne, the game will automatically bring an airborne character onto the scene and allow your character to board this airborne character instead of the one currently selected.

According to Mueller, it’s significant to point out that the phrase “even when” is rarely seen in patent claims because it’s perceived as overly emphatic and subjective. In fact, Mueller suggests that the word “even” should be avoided entirely in patent claims due to its emphasis.

Mueller has been involved in patent litigation for about 15 years, with the majority of that time spent as a consultant. Throughout this period, he’s encountered numerous amended claims, but something unusual struck him: he’s never come across ‘even if’ or ‘even when’ in a patent claim. He finds it quite extraordinary.

At present, you can play the game Palworld on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. For further information about its latest updates, take a look here.

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2025-07-25 17:41