Palworld developer Pocket Pair released details regarding their pending lawsuit from Nintendo.

According to Pocket Pair, Nintendo is seeking an injunction and damages to the tune of 10 million JPY (approximately $65,000 USD). While the money might seem like a relatively small thing given Palworld has sold well over 25 million copies at this point, the injunction is the main problem.

Nintendo appears to want Palworld gone, an injunction would mean that Pocket Pair would be forced to pull their game from the market in order to avoid continuing their alleged infringement against Nintendo and The Pokemon Company.

Pocket Pair also named three specific patents that are allegedly the base of the lawsuit. Patents, 7545191, 7493117, and 7528390, which appear to essentially be three versions of the same patent.

While the patents have existed in some form since 2021, the versions referenced in Pocket Pair’s statement were only filed after Palworld had launched. However even at their earliest date (December 22, 2021) the patent wasn’t filed until half a year after Palworld was initially announced.

The patent in question appears to try and protect the gameplay concept of using a projectile to spawn a creature in a 3D environment with the creature being directed to engage in combat on the player’s behalf.

The patent is still pending in the US, but Japanese patent law is notoriously more strict and allows for the patent of gameplay mechanics, a tactic companies use in order to control an advantage over their competitors, but also one that historically isn’t well-received by fans.