Nintendo’s Lawsuit Against Palworld Developer Could Backfire, Says Patent Expert
Nintendo’s lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair has sparked widespread discussions about the potential outcome of the case. While Nintendo has a strong track record of defending its intellectual property, IP lawyer and video game patent expert Kirk Sigmon suggests that the gaming giant’s success in this case is not guaranteed. In fact, Nintendo may be risking the loss of its patent altogether.
In an interview with PC Gamer, Sigmon explained that video game patents require a delicate balance when being drafted. “Your job, to some degree, is to weave the delicate balance between going overly narrow—allowing everyone to freely knock off your idea because you’ve described it so narrowly—and going too broad,” Sigmon said. “If you’re too broad, then you’ve given them a pathway to make the patent go away, because you’ve given them an opportunity to prove that it was already in existence.”
According to Sigmon, some of the claims in Nintendo’s patents, likely the foundation of the lawsuit, seem overly broad. “I mean, this part [of Nintendo’s patent] is easy as hell to find: ‘Control a player character in a virtual space based on operation input.’ That alone I could throw any variety of video game at,” Sigmon noted.
By basing its case on potentially overreaching claims, Nintendo might be exposing itself to significant risks. If Pocketpair can prove that similar elements have appeared in earlier games, a legal concept known as “prior art,” Nintendo could lose not only the lawsuit but also the rights to the patent itself.
“Because this is drafted fairly broadly, even in Japanese, you can get clever about what games you’re looking at as prior art,” Sigmon said. “You’d be surprised how often you can make those arguments. They’ve exposed themselves in a big way.”
