Jeremy 'Junglist' Ray's grokludo sorts through the confusion.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re most likely aware of ongoing litigation between Pokemon‘s Nintendo and The Pokemon Company, and Palworld‘s Pocketpair.
Just in case though, Nintendo and the Pokemon Company filed a lawsuit back in September of last year, with the pair seeking “an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that Palworld, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights.”
Fast forward to last month, and Nintendo effectively doubled down, securing two new patents for use in its battle. US patent 12,409,387 covers mount and flying systems, while US patent 12,403,397 covers actions like summoning and battling characters.
But wait, you may ask — if a patent lawsuit is underway, how can Nintendo be changing the goalposts? According to patent attorney Kirk Sigmon — who lists Pocketpair as a client — it’s actually pretty standard practice.
Speaking with Jeremy ‘Junglist’ Ray on his grokludo podcast, Sigmon explains the concept of — and strategy behind — continuation patents, which Nintendo has filed. They tie back to original patents and are a way of either narrowing or broadening — “curving,” as Sigmon explains — the original patent.
In the case of Nintendo’s new patents, they’re not technically “new” — they’re tied back to a patent filed back in 2021, so far before the release of Palworld.
“So, that’s where that’s coming from,” Sigmon said. “There’s a lot of confusion about that on the internet because these things can be sort of not easy to understand or to read through because… this is a specialty form of law that is not made to be easy.”
While the strategy is common, Sigmon’s on record for questioning the US Patent Office’s approval of Nintendo’s new continuation patents. Speaking with PC Gamer, Sigmon called the approvals “an embarrassing failure of the US patent system.”
Don’t take it from me, though — quite literally, as I’ll confess I have the most rudimentary understanding of what’s going on here. Sigmon does a much better job of explaining what’s going on himself, so have a full watch or listen.
The writer of this piece, Steve Wright, is friends with (and a fan of) Jeremy ‘Junglist’ Ray. While this isn’t a direct endorsement of the grokludo podcast, I reckon it’s worth a listen yourself so you can see if it’s a good fit for you.
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