The Pokémon Company has settled a copyright case they have filed outside America, but it’s not the one you were thinking of.
They shared this statement on their website:
“In the matter of the lawsuit filed in China by The Pokémon Company claiming infringement of its intellectual property rights pertaining to the game app “Pocket Monster: Remake,” (alias, “The Pocket Journey”), a mediated settlement has been reached between Pokémon and the Chinese operators of said app, Guangzhou Maichi Network Technology Co., Ltd. and Khorgos Fangchi Network Technology Co., Ltd. The settlement agreement was reached under the guidance of the High People’s Court of Guangdong Province.”
They went on to iterate their intention to protect their intellectual properties around the world.
As reported by Automaton West, they first filed this lawsuit in Chinese courts in December 2021. Pocket Monster: Remake AKA The Pocket Journey was first published in 2015, and was making $ 45 million annually. So Nintendo sought $ 72 million in damages.
The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court first ruled in favor of The Pokémon Company last September, but the defendants appealed. In December, all the companies involved agreed to this mediated settlement.
We don’t know who paid want in this settlement, but the defendants revealed in their court mandated apology that they “have paid a substantial economic price and incurred significant reputational damage.” Of course, Pocket Monster: Remake AKA The Pocket Journey has also been completely delisted.
This news comes as we await any upcoming developments in the patent lawsuit Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed vs. Pocketpair and Palworld in Japanese courts. While multiple observers pointed out the potential hazards a court ruling on this case could make in IP law, Pocketpair and Nintendo may not necessarily be in an antagonistic relationship.
At the start of this year, Pocketpair officially became a Nintendo game developer when they ported OverDungeon to the Switch. Subsequently, Pocketpair has become a video game publisher themselves. We don’t doubt that Pocketpair will defend Palworld in courts if they have to, but they have toned down their earlier rhetoric about combatting Nintendo.
With all this information in mind, it seems reasonable to speculate that Pocketpair is at least amenable to a settlement themselves, if they aren’t trying to negotiate that at the moment. What isn’t clear is what The Pokémon Company is willing to accept to end this litigation, and on that end we don’t feel comfortable in speculating further.
If nothing else, this news is a strong reminder that The Pokémon Company and Nintendo have been very successful in defending their IP rights against other game companies.
