One of the most known companies in the world for its very famous franchise, The Pokémon Company just made big news as it won a major copyright lawsuit. The troubles began when a game posed Pokémon characters without their authorization, you know? All the game makers, cartoonists, and shops praising Pokémon are very proud of their creations and they fiercely guard their intellectual property as well. This victory serves as proof of that. Today though, we will touch on the matter of the court case, the parties showing interest, and the possible aftermath of such a matter.
Background of the Lawsuit
For those who don’t know what is going on, well, this lawsuit was all about a video game titled, Pocket Monster Reissue, which was developed by a number of Chinese companies, and placed on the market in 2015. The game itself was a turn-based mobile game that also featured characters such as Pikachu and Ash Ketchum which were introduced in the Pokemon series without their designs being altered in any way, as they were entirely copied from the Pokemon ones.
Pocket Monster Reissue had a high level of gameplay engagement, which in a period of one year translated into financial gains of around $42 million, an aspect that caught The Pokémon Company’s attention. Due to the unauthorized use and the money earned, Pokémon took action against the developers in a court of law.
Legal Proceedings and Verdict
In the year 2021, a lawsuit was filed by the Pokémon company against six Chinese companies that were the ones responsible for the Pocket Monster Reissue. From the get-go, the developers were accused of copyright infringement for unauthorized use of Pokémon characters. The case was decided in court in China, and in September 2024, the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court delivered its verdict.
For sure, the court ruled in favor of The Pokémon Company, one of the companies was ordered to pay $15 million in damages, while three others were found to be partially liable. Initially, among other things, The Pokémon Company was asking for $72 million in damages and public apologies.
The Infringing Content
All in all, this Pokemon Copyright Lawsuit Win put into the spotlight the fact that copyright infringement is a severe crime, where creative works are used without the owner’s permission. This time the developers of Pocket Monster Reissue blatantly presented the well-known characters of the Pokémon company like Ash & Pikachu & etc. in the game without proper copyright changes, so the original design was simply retained. Also, text and visual materials directly extracted from the original Pokémon games, like the ones from Pokémon Yellow, were part of the app/game. The overlap of the two games was so extreme that the public and the court could see that the game indeed violated the law and was using protected material.
Broader Context of Pokémon Company’s Enforcement Actions
This legal action is only one among many. The Pokémon Company has been protecting its stuff from unauthorized exploitation all these years by attacking games, mods, and even fan projects. Such as, in 2016 a fan-made game called Pokémon Uranium was shut down after it was developed for almost a decade, in 2018 a tool called Pokémon Essentials that is used to create fan-made games was also taken off the market, remember that?
