Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have filed a lawsuit in Tokyo District Court against Japanese video game studio Pocketpair, alleging that its parody shooter game Palworld is violating intellectual property laws.

One IP expert predicts that Nintendo and The Pokemon Company's lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair is "more likely to last five years" than be settled in just one, but he's also confident that the indie survival game studio can "easily" afford the battle to come.

After months of will they / won't they, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have filed a lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair for alleged patent infringement. But, one industry intellectual property expert says it's "unlikely Nintendo owns any valid patents that are so powerful as to prevent Pocketpair from making Palworld.

Palworld was once one of gaming's biggest hits thanks to its blend of Pokémon-like gameplay elements mixed with survival and crafting mechanics, but it

Nintendo and the Pokemon Company's lawsuit against fellow creature-collectathon Palworld is for patent infringement, rather than copyright infringement, and one analyst reckons that means Nintendo has "given up" on trying to argue that Pals look too similar to Mons.