Nintendo and The Pokemon Company could be looking to sue Palworld developer Pocketpair outside of Japan, but doing so might not be easy, one attorney has suggested. As highlighted by patent attorney Kiyoshi Kurihara (via Yahoo Japan,

Can the tension of "family friendly nice guys" and "we sue everyone and sent a disabled person to jail" really continue existing in perpetuity?

Palworld developer Pocketpair responded defiantly to a lawsuit launched by Nintendo, saying, ‘We move on.’ The lawsuit submitted by Nintendo accused Palworld of committing multiple patent infringements.

Nintendo and The Pokemon applied for this patent in 2021 and secured it in Japan in 2023. The application is still pending in the U.S. @sweetpotatoes has a good story on this: https://t.co/BsVBqtdhMV https://t.co/ZIhquVwfYT

With Palworld coming to PS5 today, that means you can play the open-world survival game on Sony 's platform alongside PC and Xbox Series X. Somehow, we don't think Nintendo is being added to the list just yet. By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Analysis from a Japanese legal firm specializing in patent law (via Automaton Media) concludes that "patents established before the release of Palworld did not necessarily correspond to the mechanics of Palworld," while patents submitted after Palworld launched into early access earlier this year "worked to improve this."

It seemed like it was just a matter of time before Nintendo sued Palworld, but the lawsuit shines light on a bigger issue in the industry.