The news that the US Patent Office would reconsider the patent that Nintendo registered in early September surprised many people. The Japanese publisher may have gone too far in protecting its intellectual property rights. Gamesindustry.biz portal speakwhy and how Nintendo's defeat in the patent war will benefit the gaming industry.
The patent filed by Nintendo describes a very popular game mechanic; By registering it, the company behaved like a real patent troll and not a reputable publisher. The US Patent and Trademark Office missed a decision very badly – and is now perhaps trying to right the wrong.
Nintendo is widely known in the gaming industry for its love of litigation. The cute image of the company's friendly, childlike characters stands in stark contrast to the relentless aggression of its lawyers, as is the case with Disney. And while publishers' legal decisions are often criticized by fans, the industry itself has generally quietly approved of Nintendo's policies. Aggressive hunting of pirate, modder, and cracker groups is seen as something that is most likely to benefit the gaming industry, even if such actions carry negative connotations within the gaming community.
But the patent debacle is an exception. There's hardly anyone who hasn't called Nintendo's patent a crazy, short-sighted, and dangerous move for developers. While news of the filing sparked strong public reaction, it is possible that the patent office may have ordered a reconsideration of the application only after behind-the-scenes discussions about complaints from members of the gaming industry.
The fact that the patent application will be reconsidered is certainly good news. If it is rejected after retesting, so much the better. But this does not negate the fact that Nintendo, in principle, should not have filed a patent and the series should not have registered it. Not to mention, the good news doesn't solve a systemic problem: Patent-granting organizations around the world don't seem to know enough about game development to understand the nuances of game patents. Nintendo simply took advantage of the lack of clarity in wording and filed a whole bunch of patents that could directly threaten many other companies in the industry – including close partners of the Japanese themselves.
Of course, Nintendo is no stranger to filing its own patents, but the latest round of filings was prompted by a controversial lawsuit with Palworld developer Pocketpair. The patent infringement lawsuit against the studio has been pending in Japan for more than a year, and the settlement largely depends on the registered patents. US patent rights do not appear to have any impact on it, however, they are related. Japan's patent authorities are guaranteed to pay attention to the decisions of their U.S. counterparts.
Palworld launched with the unofficial tagline “Pokemon with guns”. Pocketpair has nothing to do with this, but it happens to be a perfectly worded phrase to confuse Nintendo's lawyers. Even when the game is released, it's clear that the publisher will most likely sue Pocketpair. But a lawsuit backed by shockingly broad patent claims is the worst move Nintendo could take.
In this case, a parallel can be drawn between Nintendo's lawsuit against Palworld and Sony's similar fight against Tencent over Light of Motiram, a game that, according to Sony, pirated the Horizon series.
Sony's claim is based on a much more traditional and straightforward argument. By copying many key elements of Horizon, Tencent risks damaging Sony's intellectual property by confusing customers and misrepresenting its products as someone else's brand. However, Sony does not insist on ownership of individual gameplay mechanics – they are concerned that copying too many elements of Horizon will lead to “clones”.
Sony's logic is easy to understand. Especially given the rumors that Tencent allegedly offered to create a new game based on the Horizon franchise, but after refusing, they just decided to give this half-finished product a different name. Palworld bears almost no resemblance to Pokemon, and Nintendo will have a hard time convincing anyone that Pocketpair is simply copying their game.
But that doesn't mean Nintendo has no other options. The publisher could have avoided mocking the patent and gone the other way – keeping quiet. It's understandable that any studio would be upset by the success of another project so clearly inspired by its original work. However, if they were Nintendo, reasonable companies, realizing that there is nothing to sue here, would just sigh and give up.
Nintendo, like its lawyers, does not always act wisely. Positive intellectual property protection can be understood and accepted; The publisher is still actively using its old franchises, so it makes sense for the company to protect them. But lately, it seems like Nintendo is being controlled by a legal department that doesn't care about the long-term health of the company.
Regardless of the court's verdict in the case against Pocketpair, Nintendo should not have gone too far. In reality, publishers can only hurt themselves because their actions also affect important partners in the gaming industry, and patent authorities in different jurisdictions may consider such behavior as dishonest.
