Palworld “infringing” on Pokemon says Nintendo president

Tiller · February 8

https://www.dexerto.com/palworld/nintendo-president-finally-breaks-silence-on-palworld-infringing-on-pokemon-2520855/. I guess they are looking into it but don’t really say if they will go after them. I assume they are weighing their legal options. We shall see.

MMOExposed · February 11

how this different from Digimon vs Pokemon?

Dibdabs · February 11

If Nitendo intended to do anything about it they would have done it months and months ago so that Palworld would never even have seen the light of day. They didn't. They barely even muster the energy to put out a snippet of comment about Palworld. They've left it too late now, considering the game has sold millions of copies world-wide and any legal action would drag on for years anyway.

Kyleran · February 12

All the President did was reaffirm that "IF" they discover any infringement on their IP they would take action as they nearly always do.

Didn't say they had or necessarily would find such, but you can bet their lawyers will have taken a good hard look by now.

Scot · February 12

Dibdabs said:

If Nitendo intended to do anything about it they would have done it months and months ago so that Palworld would never even have seen the light of day. They didn't. They barely even muster the energy to put out a snippet of comment about Palworld. They've left it too late now, considering the game has sold millions of copies world-wide and any legal action would drag on for years anyway.

Not so, there are two approaches to this. The "protect the brand" approach, which was what the Tolkien estate used to do (no longer). With that approach you would have hit Palworld like a wack-a-mole as soon as you knew it was in the offing.

The "wait till it is raining money" approach recognizes that constant legal action is costly and it is better to sue when you know you the person who has infringed your IP actually has money. Here you except some brand damage and go for the big rewards. So when Thicke and Williams released Blurred Lines the Marvin Gaye family did not put the lawyers on them straight away, when it became number one they sued. That case went to appeal and dragged on for five years, if the money is there they will pursue it.

What I don't have much of an idea of is Pokemon as a company, do they normally chase possible infringement and so on. But here as I said this may be about the millions they can make so why not go for it?

Dibdabs · February 12

Scot said:

Dibdabs said:

If Nitendo intended to do anything about it they would have done it months and months ago so that Palworld would never even have seen the light of day. They didn't. They barely even muster the energy to put out a snippet of comment about Palworld. They've left it too late now, considering the game has sold millions of copies world-wide and any legal action would drag on for years anyway.

The "wait till it is raining money" approach recognizes that constant legal action is costly and it is better to sue when you know you the person who has infringed your IP actually has money.

Nintendo could have taken action a day or two after Palworld released in that case. Millions of copies were sold.

Scot · February 13

Dibdabs said:

Scot said:

Dibdabs said:

If Nitendo intended to do anything about it they would have done it months and months ago so that Palworld would never even have seen the light of day. They didn't. They barely even muster the energy to put out a snippet of comment about Palworld. They've left it too late now, considering the game has sold millions of copies world-wide and any legal action would drag on for years anyway.

The "wait till it is raining money" approach recognizes that constant legal action is costly and it is better to sue when you know you the person who has infringed your IP actually has money.

Nintendo could have taken action a day or two after Palworld released in that case. Millions of copies were sold.

Indeed, but we have seen people saying they have been in development for years and no action was taken. If you are in it for the money would you pursue every indie or studio game that may never even make it into early access? We shall see, on the balance large companies do like to use their legal team, after all its what they pay them for.

kitarad · February 13

This waiting would be the first for Nintendo. They seem to always pursue immediately. They have been quite vigilant about their rights in the past. Wonder why they have changed strategies.

Scot · February 13

Has anyone else noticed how much that once again wishful thinking is involved here? You will see this so often in your life you would think people would spot it straight away. In the other thread really, far more than here.

You like a game, game may get sued, you start to come up with reasons why the game should/will not be sued. I find this fascinating because it shows how our opinions of the world are built on what we want, not what the truth is.

I should say I have not even played Palworld or a Pokémon game in my life, so I have I no opinion either way. But have I been guilty of wishful thinking before, you bet I have!

JeroKane · February 13

Nice clickbait title. This is old news. The original statement was made weeks ago.

This in an attempt to stop their rabid pokemon fanbase going lunacy mode on the internet and sending death threats to the Palworld devs, after the game's release and crazy success.

Theocritus · February 13

and who did Nintendo rip off their Pokemon model from? Its amazing how often ideas are usually stolen from others.

Wargfoot · February 13

Probably should shut down both games just to be safe.

Germzypie · February 13

Yeah, he made that statement on Jan 24th. I think if they had any legal grounds to proceed, they would have already right?. It was a fun game for me for a short period of time, but lost interest rather quickly. Just not my cup of tea. My son though......

Elidien_ga · February 13

At the end of the day, its about money. Does Palworld cost money from Pokemon? They can argue rights and infringement and intellectual property all day, but they do not care until it hits them in the bottom like. Except for Disney. Disney does not care and they will come after any and every infringement or use of their material.

At the end of the day, I expect Palworld to be a blip on Pokemon's radar and they will no longer care. If Pokemon folks go after them though, it will not be for some time. Since Palworld is early access, it technically does not exist in a launch state s it could be canceled and refunded (could not would or should). I think Pokemon folks will wait until its officially launched. At the same time, I think palword knows this and will keep the game in EA for a long time.

Scot · February 15

Elidien_ga said:

At the end of the day, its about money. Does Palworld cost money from Pokemon? They can argue rights and infringement and intellectual property all day, but they do not care until it hits them in the bottom like. Except for Disney. Disney does not care and they will come after any and every infringement or use of their material.

At the end of the day, I expect Palworld to be a blip on Pokemon's radar and they will no longer care. If Pokemon folks go after them though, it will not be for some time. Since Palworld is early access, it technically does not exist in a launch state s it could be canceled and refunded (could not would or should). I think Pokemon folks will wait until its officially launched. At the same time, I think palword knows this and will keep the game in EA for a long time.

I am not sure early access can be used as a defense, you launched and people paid money. A lot of it.

Is Pokemon like Disney though, thats what I was trying to get at? They don't seem really litigious to me but I don't follow studios.

Kyleran · February 15

No idea who Pokemon is as a corporate entity, but I've always associated them with Nintendo who will do a DMCA takedown for streamers who infringe on their copyrights and IP's.

Last year Valve took down the Dolphin Emulator from Steam at Nintendo's request.

Xiaoki · February 15

The statement is just "yes, we know about Palworld, stop messaging us about it"

The Palworld designs are similar to Pokemon but legally distinct enough to not get sued.

And isn't that the beauty of this? The whole reason Pokemon is called Pokemon is because it was originally called Pocket Monsters and they were threatened with a lawsuit by a cartoon/toy line called Monster in my Pocket.

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Palworld “infringing” on Pokemon says Nintendo president

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Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

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Palworld “infringing” on Pokemon says Nintendo president

Comments

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV