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news16 | 株式会社ポケットペア
https://www.pocketpair.jp/news/news16
https://www.pocketpair.jp/news/news16
While the designs were clearly inspired by Pokemon, I don't think Nintendo has any leg to stand on in this case. The connection is flimsy at best., but I'm not a lawyer so I dunno, maybe there's some legal loophole that Nintendo is banking on.
If this case goes in Nintendo's favour, it could open the door for other lawsuits like Stardew Valley could get sued for infringing on Nintendo's Harvest Moon IP, for example. I know that's ludicrous but who knows, the law goes in unexpected directions sometimes.
It's a patent lawsuit which might have a better chance than a copyright lawsuit but Nintendo didn't disclose which patent(s) and Pocketpair also doesn't know yet either.
You're right though that any patent Pocketpair is infringing upon would also have likely been infringed by dozens of other games. Nintendo is just upset Pocketpair made millions with a game that appealed to Pokemon fans and want to ensure nobody else does it again.
Pocketpair also doesn’t know yet either.
They have the full wording of the lawsuit. I'm sure they know.
You can't just sue somebody on "trust me, bro".
I mean...you can. All lawsuits start with an application at a courthouse and that application can say whatever the plaintiff wants.
Here's youtube lawyer LegalEagle reviewing some crazy ones. Like a man who sued David Copperfield for stealing magical powers granted to him by God. Lawsuits can say literally anything in their initial application.
I heard they sue Pocketpair on copyrighted systems, not on the design of the Pals (eg: using an object like a Pokeball to catch the creatures). They certainly have solid legal arguments, which explains why they took their time to find some flaws they could exploit to sue them.
Regardless of who owns the IP, it will open the flood gates of any company suing another for even just taking inspiration from one of their IPs.