They didn’t specify which patents were being infringed upon. It’ll be interesting to see how this goes. It’s in Japan so I assume Nintendo’s got this in the bag
According to a Mastodon post, the speculation is it’s over “patents such as one for throwing and using Poké Balls in a 3D space (JP,2023-092953,A); and one for automatically switching between ride Pokémon as a player transitions between different terrain, such as between air and the ground (JP,2023-092954,A)."
IANAL, certainly not in Japanese patent law, but the first one sounds stronger to me, but still not bulletproof.
The fundamental flaw with patents is being transferrable and the property model of them. Within the context of the current political economy, it would make more sense if someone used another’s patent commercially, the patent holder just gets a tax credit equal to some small percentage of the sales. And sweet Jesus the entire concept of being able to buy and sell patent rights is fucked up.🔝
AFAIK game mechanics in the US can’t be patented, especially board games. It’s one of the few things American copyright law isn’t fucking stupid about.
That latter one is interesting because I can think of multiple MMOs with mounts that worked that way long before Nintendo did it. But I guess Nintendo is the only company that bothered to patent it in Japan.
Which would work out in Pocketpair’s favor; establishing that it was an existing, common mechanic before the patent was filed will typically get it nullified.
They didn’t specify which patents were being infringed upon. It’ll be interesting to see how this goes. It’s in Japan so I assume Nintendo’s got this in the bag
According to a Mastodon post, the speculation is it’s over “patents such as one for throwing and using Poké Balls in a 3D space (JP,2023-092953,A); and one for automatically switching between ride Pokémon as a player transitions between different terrain, such as between air and the ground (JP,2023-092954,A)."
IANAL, certainly not in Japanese patent law, but the first one sounds stronger to me, but still not bulletproof.
God patents for game mechanics are so fucking stupid and should be thrown out entirely
the idea of patents were sold to us with this romantic tale of the lone inventor being able to live off his genius.
none of that is real. patents are absurd and should be abolished, just like copyright (sold to us with a similar fairytale).
The fundamental flaw with patents is being transferrable and the property model of them. Within the context of the current political economy, it would make more sense if someone used another’s patent commercially, the patent holder just gets a tax credit equal to some small percentage of the sales. And sweet Jesus the entire concept of being able to buy and sell patent rights is fucked up.🔝
AFAIK game mechanics in the US can’t be patented, especially board games. It’s one of the few things American copyright law isn’t fucking stupid about.
Oh boy I hope you never read about Konami and DDR patents/lawsuits
That latter one is interesting because I can think of multiple MMOs with mounts that worked that way long before Nintendo did it. But I guess Nintendo is the only company that bothered to patent it in Japan.
Which would work out in Pocketpair’s favor; establishing that it was an existing, common mechanic before the patent was filed will typically get it nullified.
Yeah World of Warcraft’s been doing that since 2004?
Patents are so fucking stupid loo