The Pokémon Company's new patents are a bad sign, and not just for Palworld

Yesterday, a report from Games Fray confirmed that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have been issued two U.S. patents in the last week. Over the last year, The Pokémon Company and Pocketpair, the developers of Palworld, have been engaged in litigation in Japan. There is currently no news on that situation, but in case you missed the update a few months ago, Pocketpair has been forced to make some key changes to how Palworld works, as they said, to “prevent further disruptions to the development of Palworld.” These new patents, while fairly narrow in scope, could hint at a larger strategy.

The Pokémon Company’s patent strategy is raising some eyebrows, not just for Palworld

The Pokémon Company is implementing an odd patent strategy in the U.S. that could have wide-ranging impacts on the gaming industry. Sure, there are other creature-collecting games out there that these specific instances might affect in the same way they have affected Palworld, but it’s the fact that TPC got these patents that’s the most concerning. Now, to be clear, I am not a lawyer. This patent appears to be very focused, and it would take some fairly direct plagiarism to infringe on it. But, while this specific instance might not cause problems, it does start to set a precedent that could be taken advantage of.

Florian Mueller at Games Fray, a site that often covers legal documents such as this, even calls one of the patents “shocking,” going on to write: “Many such patent applications initially face a rejection, at least of some claims, and require some tweaking and persuasion. But the application that led to the ‘397 patent was filed in March 2023, and the USPTO never raised any concern. It just decided this summer to grant it, and it then issued last week.”

My biggest worry, and one that I’ve seen shared by others online, is that the success that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are having with this strategy could inspire others to do the same. Even if this patent is never put into use, it certainly discourages developers from getting anywhere close to it. If other large companies decide to follow this practice, it could significantly limit the ability of smaller creators to innovate in these spaces, simply due to the threat of litigation. It’s great for The Pokémon Company because they don’t want another Palworld, but if it means Pokémon continues to grow comfortable at the top rather than staying competitive and innovative, then we all lose.

The story was shared on Reddit, specifically the subreddit r/Nintendo, and one user explains the problem in a great way: “Nintendo is basically spending time and money on removing any competition rather than just trying to make better Pokémon games.” If no other company can create a competitive video game experience like Pokémon, then they don’t need to worry about making the games better. These moves help solidify that.

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