Yesterday, Nintendo announced that it had finally turned its baleful gaze on Palworld, and would be pursuing legal action in the Tokyo District Court against developer Pocketpair over alleged patent infringement. But which patents? Nintendo’s press release accuses Palworld of infringing on “multiple patent rights,” but Pocketpair says it doesn’t know which patents it’s supposed to have violated, and Nintendo hasn’t elaborated. While we wait for more specifics on the lawsuit, I’ve been digging into patents held by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company to see where Mario’s lawyers might be anchoring their case. After a crash course in patent research, I’ve got a strong suspicion that Nintendo’s bringing Pocketpair to court over Poké Balls… Read more.