Hal-5700XNintendo filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair, Inc.
We should play a game of guessing which patent(s) they’re gonna try to nail Palworld for infringement with.
SlippiHUDHalf of those patents read like if they use vague enough language to justify patenting how computers work.
halcyoncmdrWelcome to Software Patents 101.
NocturnalMorningThese can’t be real, they read like they were generated by an AI prompt.
No, that’s the pal-world-monster arts.
Palworld monsters are not AI generated. The artist would very much lile to stop being compared to an AI.
Well, it makes me think that AI training was probably biased towards legal drivel like this, since it’s public facing, professional and probably even translated in multiple languages.
The student got so good that people think the teacher is imitating it.
Those are just abstract if I’m not mistaken. There should be more detailed specifications.
My guess is the “Pokemon Box Storage” system since palworld stores pals in a palbox.
US Patent for Content data holding system, storage medium, content data holding server, and data management method Patent (Patent # 11,998,838 issued June 4, 2024) - Justia Patents Search
A server includes a content storage medium configured to store content data of content usable in different types of games up to a first upper number, and a management information storage medium configured to store valid period information of a right to use an extended function concerning the content data The server, in case that a right to use an extended function is valid, sends the content data to an information-processing device or receives the content data from the information-processing device, and stores the content data in the content storage medium up to a second upper number larger than the first upper number. The server, in case that the right is invalid, performs at least one of transmission of the content data to the information-processing device and reception of the content data from the information-processing device, in a restricted manner as compared with a case where the right is valid.
ShadowIs that the wrong link? This seems totally unrelated to Pokemon in boxes, and is more about multi console character storage systems.
In the “other references” they link to the bulbapedia article for Pokemon box so I figured thats what the whole thing was about, but yeah it does read like accessing data on a server
radixNintendo patents video game inventory system.
Not the onion.
(Not a patent lawyer, and I’m sure it’s more complicated than that, but come on)
How can they let companies file such broad, vague patents for mechanics that have existed since forever? For example, 20240286040, is just what flying mounts have done in WoW since 2007 or even the flying cap in Mario 64 ffs. There are probably other earlier examples, but it goes to show that it’s just noise to monopolize innovation and scare other devs.
US Patent Application for NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM HAVING STORED THEREIN GAME PROGRAM, GAME SYSTEM, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD Patent Application (Application #20240286040 issued August 29, 2024) - Justia Patents Search
In an example of a game program, a ground boarding target object or an air boarding target object is selected by a selection operation, and a player character is caused to board the selected boarding target object. If the player character aboard the air boarding target object moves toward the ground, the player character is automatically changed to the state where the player character is aboard the ground boarding target object, and brought into the state where the player character can move on the ground.
Long story short, the claims get much longer and restrictive through the application process. The example you asked about is currently undergoing a non-final rejection, and the claims will get much more restrictive in further iterations (assuming that the application has actual merit somewhere in the original dependent claims)
You can check the application history here: Global Dossier
Juniper (she/her) 🫐Since this was filed in Japan, it would have to be parents Nintendo own in Japan that are infringed and those don’t necessarily perfectly match those in the US
I’m sorry who in their right mind signed off on this patent
NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM HAVING STORED THEREIN GAME PROGRAM, GAME SYSTEM, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD
Thats literally any online game server
I think that’s setting the context for the claims they make, not a claim in itself.
ampersandrewSo like…no mention of which patents?
JusticeForPorygonI initially assumed they were referring to the Pokemon franchise but I don’t think that’s related to patents? Maybe it’s a regional thing?
vikingYou can’t patent certain game mechanics. Would have to be an actual piece of code that was replicated.
I didn’t know you could patent code. I thought patents only applied to physical inventions.
I suppose it makes sense though, there isn’t much difference.
In the United States you are correct, you cannot patent game mechanics.
Nintendo is a Japanese company. They basically wrote their own laws on how IP works in the country.
🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 🏆They’re just gonna wing it and hope they have something.
Had to wait until no one gave a shit about Palworld anymore
RxBradWait until they make all the money that was to be made on their game.
Then yoink all of that money.
That and it also would have been a lot more bad press for Nintendo had they taken action when the game was first popular
Not that Nintendo’s legal team has ever had an issue with bad press
That’s some Tauros-shit (sue me). I hope the Japanese legal system can see that.
Dizzy Devil DuckyIt’ll be hard to see that when their vision will be blocked by stacks of yen.
xavier666Haven’t seen this meme for a while.
It took a while to catch up
I wonder if they are going to go after the monster tamer genre as a whole ar some point. I can see them going after tem tem, coromon, nextmon, etc…
None of those made hundreds of millions of dollars.
Digimon did, right? Why didn’t they ever go after that?
Didn’t they like own a shit ton of patents? Which one are we talking about?
CALIGVLATook them a while. But like clockwork, Nintendo never misses a chance to be the villains.
They had to wait for PalWorld to sell a lot and make a lot of money so they can financially ruin these people instead of just telling them “don’t do that.”
Literally Comic-Book Villain behavior.
They had to wait for PalWorld to sell a lot and make a lot of money so they can financially ruin these people instead of just telling them “don’t do that." make themselves a lot of money by doing nothing but make a lawsuit."
Doesn’t matter to them, when millions line up to see the next wacky thing Mario is up to, for the 55th time
jordanlundOnly surprise here is “Why did it take so long?”
It’s kinda surprising they didn’t sue over the much less legally grey IP infringements.
AshtearSimilar visual design happens all the time in Japanese media and there’s rarely litigation over it. Patent lawsuits are much more common in Japan.
I don’t know if that’s true, but most of those patents are incredibly iffy, they seem to describe basic functions of how videogames have worked since WoW.
They seem to have tried patenting have a character that can walk, drive, and fly in a videogame on May 2, 2024.
It has to do with how the statute is written (I used to do comparative international IP policy research and analysis). Japanese works are given fairly wide latitude in creative sectors based on artistic intent. For example, you’ll see knockoff brands all the time in anime or manga, but the intent is clearly world building (or parody), not appropriation for promotional use. That artistic intent standard is used in the courts. This is why all the side-by-side comparisons people here probably saw on Twitter when Palworld came out was more of an ethnocentric American approach. Plus, copyright infringement is frequently incidental and not the result of large investment (unlike patents), so, in a country that prefers to handle domestic disputes informally, these incidents are less likely to go to court.
As a country that more recently entered the world stage based on manufacturing, patent protection is simply going to be taken more seriously as part of the culture. And yes–while I don’t have numbers–patent litigation does seem to get thrown out often when it comes to video games, at least the high-profile stuff, anyway. Here’s an example between Koei Tecmo and Capcom since I was already on Variety.
Nintendo: Can we sue them over the designs
Lawyer: Not really
…
Lawyer: But we can sue them anyway
cm0002Nintendo: Can we sue them over the designs?
Lawyer: Not really, this shit is impossible to prove
… starts closing the money briefcase
Lawyer: But we can sue them anyway
Gotta wait until palworld has made a bucket of money for Nintendo to point at, claim damages, then try to take.
Unsurprising. Flew a little too close to the sun there fellas.
Anybody who’s played palworld knows the game is nothing like pokemon. What’s next, are they going to claim they are the only company who can make games with 4 legged animals?
I’m sorry, it’s mostly humanoid furries now with the starter Pokémon…
They said patent violations, not copyright, so it is about some sort of mechanic or system and not the pals or any specific designs. I’m guessing the thrown ball capture system, since it seems no other developers have published anything using that specifically.
CouldbealeotardWorld of Final Fantasy is as close to a Pokemon rip off as you can get, and they didn’t get sued.
They shouldnt be able to sue for that cause a patent only lasts for 20 years in Japan. I saw some guesses that there might be a patent for one of their legends games that they are suing for.
p5yk0t1km1r4geActually ARK does this with cryopods.
BlackmistWorld of Warcraft’s pet capture system was actually very similar to Pokemon, including better traps with better chances of success.
I don’t understand. Everyone, literally EVERYONE was calling this game pokemon with guns when it released, so why are people mad that the makers of pokemon are suing? We all saw it from the start
The comparison is valid, but doesn’t mean it infringes on any patent.
Otherwise, FromSoftware would sue the shit out of every soulslike out there.
I think it’s understandable why they sue them, it’s just horrible business practice because Nintendo is too lazy to actually innovate and do something creative for a change, instead of sitting on franchises like that and do fuck all with it, only releasing repetitive piss-poor games based on the exact same concept they invented like 30+ years ago.
The problem is people will still buy Pokemon, even if they’re absolute garbage games. So Nintendo won’t change it either.
I think it’s an issue with Japanese game companies in general. I’ve been complaining about Capcom forever. Megaman 11 was a side scroller. I’m a massive mega man fan and I like the side scroll. But it’s 2024. Can we try something new? I would love a ratchet and Clank style, open world 3d mega man where you go to the different areas of the city and take down the bosses.
Also games like monster hunter, are so janky and look 10 years out of date, and most Capcom games look outdated
Just because it has a resemblance to pokemon doesn’t make it pokemon. The gameplay is completely different.