According to the latest developments in the Nintendo and Pokémon Company’s patent infringement lawsuit against Palworld, the former has recently modified one of its patents.
For those unaware, Nintendo, Pokémon Company and Pocketpair, the publisher for Palworld, have been in a legal battle for close to a year now. It is a patent infringement lawsuit in which Nintendo alleges that Palworld has infringed on three of its patents. Palworld and Pocketpair have already argued invalidity; however, it seems Nintendo may have another card up its sleeve.
Nintendo Rewrites Patent Claims During Palworld Lawsuit
According to a report by GamesFray, Nintendo has recently visited the Japan Patent Office to request a modification to one of its patent claims, and this request has been granted. For those wondering, there are three patents in question: two focus on collecting characters, and one is about smooth switching between flying and riding objects. Nintendo has revised the patent claim for the patent related to smooth switching between riding objects.
The report explains that the revision of Nintendo’s patent doesn’t introduce “any new technical matter”; however, its wording has been described as “extremely contorted”. Gamesfray adds that this kind of wording is “trying to complicate things for the purpose of putting up a huge smokescreen”. Moreover, phrases like “even when” are not usually found in patent claims. Here’s an excerpt from the modified Nintendo patent:
“and even when any boarding character other than the aerial boarding character capable of moving in the air is the currently selected boarding character and a first operation input is given when the player character is in the air, the computer causes the aerial boarding character to appear in the virtual space, and causes the player character to board the aerial boarding character instead of the currently selected boarding character from among the boarding characters…”
Furthermore, the report tells us that “litigants don’t change a patent in the middle of an infringement case unless they feel the patent is at a fairly high risk of being deemed invalid in its original form.” However, sometimes these revisions can allow the litigant to “survive the invalidity contentions” and also establish “an infringement by the accused product or service”.
It is also speculated that Nintendo’s revisions to its patent claims in the Palworld lawsuit may not be targeting just Pocketpair; they can also be used to discourage other companies from making games that resemble Pokémon in any shape or form.
In other news, check out the details on Palword’s Tides of Terraria update. Also, the game has removed another feature due to the ongoing lawsuit. What are your thoughts on Nintendo modifying a patent claim amid the ongoing Palworld lawsuit? Let us know through the official Insider Gaming forums discussion.
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