TOKYO — Nintendo 7974.T and The Pokemon Company have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the maker of survival adventure game “Palworld”, the companies said on Thursday.
The lawsuit, filed with the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday, seeks an injunction and compensation for damages on the grounds that the game, made by Tokyo-based Pocketpair Inc, infringes multiple patent rights.
Palworld, dubbed “Pokemon with guns”, became a breakout hit following its release in mid-January. In the game, players can use guns to capture and train cute creatures known as “pals”.
Pocketpair said it received notice of a patent infringement lawsuit on Wednesday but is unaware of the specific patents it is accused of infringing upon.
The company will begin appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the claims, it said in a statement.
“It is truly unfortunate that we will be forced to allocate significant time to matters unrelated to game development due to this lawsuit,” the company said.
The Pokemon Company said in January it would investigate and take action over any infringement of intellectual property rights.
Pocketpair in July announced it would partner with Sony 6758.T to promote the licensing of Palworld globally.
— Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim and Sam Nussey; editing by Jamie Freed and Jason Neely
