No court has ruled on the Nintendo/Pocketpair case: as of 13 August 2026 the Tokyo District Court has an evidence hearing scheduled for 1 October 2026 and is due to express an opinion on 9 November 2026, so nobody has "won" yet.
This is a patent case about gameplay mechanics. It is not a copyright case and it is not about how Pals look, which is the single most common misunderstanding online.
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company sued over three Japanese patents in September 2024. Pocketpair changed two mechanics in-game (November 2024 and May 2025). In November 2025 the plaintiffs narrowed their claims to older versions only. The case is still live and undecided.
Who filed what, and when
Nintendo's own press release of 19 September 2024 states that Nintendo Co., Ltd. and The Pokémon Company filed suit in the Tokyo District Court on 18 September 2024, seeking "an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages".
Nintendo's release did not name the patents. Pocketpair identified them itself in a statement published on 8 November 2024.
| Patent | Registered | What it covers (plain language) |
|---|---|---|
| JP 7493117 | 22 May 2024 | Determining aim direction from player input, then a capture attempt with an on-screen indication of whether it will succeed |
| JP 7528390 | 26 July 2024 | Riding/mounting a character to move through the air, and switching between ridden objects |
| JP 7545191 | 27 August 2024 | Capturing field characters and releasing captured characters to fight, using directional aiming |
Registration dates are taken from Pocketpair's statement. Plain-language descriptions of what each patent claims follow published patent-litigation analysis.
The damages demanded are small: 5 million yen to each plaintiff, 10 million yen in total, plus late-payment damages. The injunction — an order to stop selling or distributing the infringing product — was the part with real teeth.
The patents post-date Palworld's launch
Palworld entered Early Access on 19 January 2024. All three asserted patents were registered after that date. Under Japanese practice a rightsholder can pursue divisional applications that claim priority from an earlier parent filing, which is why patents granted in 2024 can be pointed at a January 2024 game; patent-litigation analysts have covered this mechanism at length. Whether the claims are valid over the prior art is precisely what is being fought about.
What Pocketpair changed in the game
Two live mechanics changed during the litigation. Both are verifiable in Pocketpair's own Steam patch announcements.
| Patch | Date | Change |
|---|---|---|
| v0.3.11 — "Changes to player controls" | 30 Nov 2024 | Throwing a sphere to summon a Pal into battle was removed. Summoned Pals now appear beside the player. |
| v0.5.5 — "Changes to glider Pals" | 8 May 2025 | Gliding was moved onto a separate glider item instead of gliding by holding a Pal. |
Pocketpair addressed the v0.5.5 change publicly on the same day, saying it continued to dispute the claims and to assert the patents' invalidity, but had "had to make certain compromises in order to avoid disruptions to the development and distribution of Palworld". Press coverage reported the confirmation that the gliding change was litigation-related.
Pocketpair described the changes as compromises it chose to make while litigation was pending. No court ordered them. That distinction matters, and plenty of coverage blurs it.
The Japan Patent Office rejection (October 2025)
On 29 October 2025 it was reported — and covered more widely on 3 November 2025 — that the JPO issued a rejection of Nintendo patent application no. 2024-031879, finding the claimed technique obvious to a person of ordinary skill. The cited prior art included ARK, Monster Hunter 4, Kantai Collection, Pokémon GO and Pocketpair's own Craftopia.
Two caveats that most reporting dropped:
- That application is not one of the three patents asserted in the lawsuit. It shares a family relationship with two of them, which is why it is considered relevant.
- The rejection was non-final and appealable, including to Japan's IP High Court.
November 2025: the claims were narrowed
In November 2025 the plaintiffs amended the scope of their claims so that the case now targets older versions of Palworld only — the builds that existed before the v0.3.11 and v0.5.5 changes. This was reported from the Tokyo District Court record by patent-litigation analysts and picked up across the games press.
The practical consequence: the versions of Palworld sold today are outside the amended claims, so this case cannot remove the current game from sale, and the realistic ceiling on the outcome is the token damages figure.
Where the case stands in August 2026
| Date | Event | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Sep 2024 | Suit filed, Tokyo District Court | Confirmed (Nintendo press release) |
| 8 Nov 2024 | Pocketpair names the three patents | Confirmed (Pocketpair statement) |
| 30 Nov 2024 | v0.3.11 changes summoning | Confirmed (Steam patch notes) |
| 8 May 2025 | v0.5.5 changes gliding; Pocketpair statement | Confirmed |
| 29 Oct 2025 | JPO rejects related application 2024-031879 | Confirmed, non-final |
| Nov 2025 | Claims amended to older versions only | Reported from court record |
| 1 Oct 2026 | Evidence hearing | Scheduled — not yet held |
| 9 Nov 2026 | Court to express an opinion | Scheduled |
As of 13 August 2026 both sides have completed written pleadings and the submission of evidence including expert reports, per a June 2026 review of the docket.
Claims you will see that are not supported
"The parties settled." No settlement has been announced by Nintendo, The Pokémon Company or Pocketpair. "Palworld won." There is no judgment. "Nintendo won an injunction." None has been granted. "Palworld was pulled from stores." It has never been delisted; version 1.0 launched on 10 July 2026 while the case was pending.
What about the United States?
Patent-litigation analysts have tracked Nintendo obtaining further US patents in the same family and have speculated about a possible US filing. No US lawsuit against Pocketpair has been confirmed as filed. Treat any "Nintendo sues Palworld in America" headline as unconfirmed unless it points at a docket number.
What it changed for players — and what to read next
In practice the litigation cost Palworld players two things: the throw-to-summon animation and Pal-based gliding, both replaced by alternatives. Everything else you hear about the case — bans, delistings, payouts — has not happened.
The Japanese PS5 release arrived after the global one (24 September 2024 worldwide, 4 October 2024 in Japan) and several outlets linked the gap to the litigation; Pocketpair has not confirmed that link, so treat it as press speculation.
- Palworld vs Pokémon — the design-similarity argument, separated from the patent case
- Release dates and update history — every patch that changed a disputed mechanic
- Platforms and versions — including why there is no Switch version