Nintendo makes “bizarre” change to Palworld lawsuit

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In the aftermath of Palworld’s launch, comparisons to Nintendo’s Pokemon sparked doubts, leading to a legal dispute where Nintendo alleges that Pocketpair has infringed upon certain Pokemon patents. Recently, there have been whispers about a modification in one of these contested patents within the ongoing court case.

For quite a while now, Nintendo has been engaged in a legal battle with Pocketpair, alleging that the creators of the game Palworld have violated their intellectual property rights. The lawsuit details several patents, distinctive visual designs, and gaming features that Nintendo asserts they hold exclusive rights to.

Two involve character gathering methods, such as capturing Pokemon with Pokeballs as an example, while another pertained to seamless transitions between riding objects, such as transitioning from horseback to flying on a bird’s back. In a recent revision, Nintendo has sparked confusion by altering the latter patent, leaving even experts puzzled and labeling it as “unusual.

Nintendo changes patent in Palworld lawsuit

Recently, Nintendo sought an amendment to one of its patents as part of ongoing litigation. This adjustment has since been granted and made public. Although it’s a small modification, this tweak in the patent has left even seasoned legal professionals scratching their heads.

In this patent explanation, a notable difference is introducing the phrase “even when,” a term not commonly found in legal texts.

An excerpt of the patent reads:

If you’re using a character that can move in the air as your selected boarding character but aren’t actually using an aerial boarding character, and you input a command while in mid-air, the game will switch to the aerial boarding character instead of your current one. This means that your player character will then board the aerial boarding character instead of the character you had selected.

Florian Mueller, a legal expert at Gamesfray, has offered his perspective on the ongoing case: “Over the past 15 years, I’ve been closely involved with patent litigation (for much of that time as a consultant), and I’ve encountered numerous amended claims. However, I’ve never come across ‘even when’ or ‘even if’ in a patent claim. It strikes me as unusual.

It’s unclear what impact this will have on the ongoing lawsuit, but some people are suggesting it could indicate that Nintendo might be growing concerned: “It seems Nintendo altered their Palworld Patent during the legal proceedings. Could Nintendo be doubting their chances in court?

As a passionate gamer, I’m following the recent developments between Nintendo and Palworld. Contrary to what some might think, Nintendo seems to be taking extreme steps in a patent infringement dispute. However, I was surprised to learn that Palworld seems to have a more robust defense than Nintendo initially anticipated.

It’s somewhat unclear, but these changes suggest that Nintendo may be taking a firmer stance against this issue.

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2025-07-21 14:18