The Pokémon Company Catches A Win In Lawsuit Against Another Rip-Off App – Nintendo Life
GuestGuestLogin | Sign UpNintendo LifeGuestLogin or Sign UpWatch out, PalworldWhile the Palworld case continues to tick away in the background, The Pokémon Company has recently won another lawsuit against a Chinese mobile app on the grounds of copyright infringement and acts of unfair competition (thanks, Eurogamer).TPC’s case against ‘Pocket Monster: Remake’ (or, sometimes, ‘Pocket Monster: Issue/Reissue’) has been running for years. Starting back in 2022, the Pokémon studio announced that it was seeking damages of around £60 million / $70 million, claiming that the app clearly ripped assets and gameplay from the Pokémon series — we’ve attached some footage from YouTube account James Hu below, so you can see the app in action.The case was resolved last September, though Guangzhou Maichi Network Technology and Khorgos Fangchi Network Technology (the two companies involved in the mobile app) appealed the decision, pushing the legal proceedings back to last week when a Chinese court put the case to bed for good.While we don’t know the exact amount that the companies involved were forced to settle in the end, a joint statement shared on the TPC corporate website specifies that the pair have paid “a substantial economic price” and have incurred “significant reputational damage” in the process.In the formal apology, Guangzhou Maichi and Khorgos Fangchi stated that the mobile app “extensively used design elements of the well-known Pokémon Video Game Series” and “has unfairly taken advantage of the fame and reputation of the Pokémon Video Games”, constituting an act of unfair competition and copyright infringement.Under the guidance of relevant precedents and judicial documents issued by the High People’s Court of Guangdong Province, We have deeply realized that our acts had violated relevant laws during the second-instance trial and settlement process. The Game has extensively used design elements of the well-known Pokémon Video Game Series, infringing the copyrights related to the Pokémon Video Games, and has unfairly taken advantage of the fame and reputation of the Pokémon Video Games, thereby constituting acts of unfair competition. Our copyright infringement and acts of unfair competition have caused significant economic losses to the rights holders and severely damaged the image of the original Pokémon Video Games. We hereby sincerely apologize to TPC and other rights holders, as well as the vast number of players, consumers, and the general public.The app in question has now been removed from the market, the statement concludes, with the companies pledging to “place a high priority on intellectual property protection, [and] refrain from infringing upon any related intellectual property rights or interests of the Pokémon Video Games” in the future.TPC and Nintendo’s high-profile lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair is still ongoing. While the case has been focused on Japanese courts so far, recent Nintendo patent approvals in the U.S. suggest that things may soon expand to an international reach.Update: Attorney weighs in on Nintendo’s mostly-rejected patentNintendo’s lawsuit claims it “infringes multiple patent rights”What do you make of this latest Pokémon rip-off? Let us know in the comments.[source corporate.pokemon.co.jp, via eurogamer.net]About Jim NormanJim came to Nintendo Life in 2022 and, despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his unwavering love for the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he has continued to write news and features on the site ever since.Comments 18Never heard of this but good lord look at that video, were people viciously defending this one as a proxy battle against TPC as well?While I do not think Palworld is innocent, let’s be honest here, this game is blatantly stealing designs, from copying trainers to altered pokemon, way more than any other games being suedThis isn’t really relevant in context with Palworld though. :vWhat they asked from the Palworld creators turned out to be very reasonable, and more a matter of principle than any kind of take-down attempt.Except that Palworld’s case as mentioned also by the related article is about patents which are apparently involved in it despite being approved after Palworld’s release just because related to a previous “parent patent” (again, incredibly scummy no matter if it’s legal in my opinion) – this is about copyright infringement and you can easily see why the The Pokémon Company won it considering the slightly modified and even taken as is assets shown in the video in this very article…Comparing Palworld to games that blatantly steal assets from pokemon is kinda silly and malicious.
It’s like saying “watch out It Takes Two” after Take-Two Interactive manages to strike down someone reselling GTA III on the google play store.Removed – unconstructive feedbackRemoved – discussing moderation@JimNorman You do know that only one patent out of over twenty was approved, right?Surely they’ll use the damage payment they get from this to increase the quality of their own products right?………. right?While palworld is pretty shameless with its ideas stolen from pokemon I think comparing it to a straight up pokemon bootleg is a bit unfairUnlike the case of Palworld where there is still intrigue as to why the lawsuit (they say patents, but they give the information in a “confusing” way that makes it doubtful and other factors already mentioned in other topics), this rip off game literally uses too much of Pokémon without modifying it, seriously, this one had very easy reasons for a lawsuit.@Yosher
Money does not completely influence the quality of the game, it is more than obvious, the time they allow for its development, and seeing that it has been more than 1 year (almost 2) without anything new from Pokémon from the main series, one can think that they are giving it that time that Game Freak needed for to have a well developed game.@SakuraHaruka Money isn’t everything but it does contribute to a lot. The phrase “time is money” doesn’t exist for no reason after all. Every day spent on development is another day spent on development cost and everything surrounding that, and another day that the product in question is not on the market to be sold.Honestly I’ve lost my trust in this company to deliver half decent games these days, but I do hope that during this time that they haven’t shown anything, is time they’ve spent polishing up Pokémon Z – A, and other possible projects they have going on right now. I want to be excited for Pokémon again too, but they’re making it very hard for me. I want them to prove me wrong that they CAN still make Pokémon games shine as the series so very much deserves to.Removed – trolling/baiting@Solid_Python @LightsiydNot to butt in, but we all only know what we know. There is no reason to be uncivil when trying to inform people of new information.It is true that patents are often rejected not on merit, but because the wording and details are too general. But it’s also important to note that that happens because companies try to patent blatantly unpatentable things all the time!I have not had the time to read all of the patents Nintendo filed, but I can tall you that, in general, Nintendo patents are rejected (in the US) because of NOA’s overreach. Their recent patent for upscaling, in which they tried to include things already patented by Nvidia, is a good example.This doesn’t happen in Japan. Most of the patents that Nintendo applies for over there are granted. And while, again, it IS normal, I don’t think we should support or give NOA a free pass for their attempts to toss as much as possible at the patent office, hoping some of it will stick.I support patents because they protect the small player as much as the big guys. But that system only works if everyone plays fair. Palworld likely infringes, and that’s bad. But using that infringement to try and push though 22 overly general and poorly worded patents? That’s also bad.No white hats in this one.Well… Ash is back and he brought May as a training partner.Everybody got to live even fired anime characters! 😭Watch out, PalworldNice bootlicking lmao.Ok, what is this ripoff app again?OK, this one actually deserved it. Show CommentsLeave A CommentHold on there, you need to login to post a comment…Pokémon Presents Announced For 27th February 2025Quick, act surprised!Funko Fusion Is Deemed A “Complete Commercial And Critical Failure”Around 20 unconfirmed layoffs reportedPoll: Which Pokémon Game Really Deserves A Remake Next?Kanto blightGallery: Here’s A Closer Look At The London Pop-Up Pokémon Center’s Exclusive MerchType advantage against bank ballancesTalking Point: Should We Actually Get Excited For Pokémon Day This Year?Is it all Sleep Talk? 1News This Absurd Action-Horror From Swery65 And Suda51 Needs To Come To Switch 16News Balatro’s New Free Update Features Crossovers With Assassin’s Creed, Fallout, Civ And More 9News ‘Fantasy Life i’ Commercials Showcase Comfortingly Familiar Gameplay 15News Looks Like Kirby’s Epic Yarn And Princess Peach: Showtime! Dev Good-Feel Is Hiring 15News GameStop Discontinues Pokémon Trading Card Game Pre-OrdersNews Nintendo Is Discontinuing Gold Points, One Of The Switch’s Best IncentivesNews Mario & Luigi: Brothership Version 1.0.1 Now Available, Here Are The…News Hollow Knight: Silksong Briefly Vanishes From US Switch eShop, But It’s …News Toby Fox Shares Development Update On Deltarune Chapter 3 And 4News Nintendo Power Artist “Hadn’t Actually Played Any Zelda Games”…News Nintendo Has Renewed Some TrademarksNews Nike Has Gone Bananas With These Donkey Kong Country-Inspired TrainersNews Pokémon Presents Announced For 27th February 2025Hands On Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition – A Decade On, Mira’s Still G…News New Tactical RPG From Danganronpa & Zero Escape Creators Scores A DemoPopular Right NowShow More Join 1,509,507 people following Nintendo Life:© 2025 Hookshot Media, partner of IGN Entertainment | Hosted by 44 Bytes | AdChoices | Do Not Sell My Personal Information
