Pokémon Company reportedly sues six Chinese firms for copyright infringement

The Pokémon Company has filed lawsuit against six Chinese companies for copyright infringement and unfair competition behaviour over a mobile game accused of containing similarities to the Japanese firm's. According to SCMP, the six companies are said to have been operating the Chinese game without consent since 2015, a stock exchange filing on 1 September 2022 by one of the defendants Jiangyin Zhongnan Heavy Industries Co said.

The Pokémon Company has sought US$72.5 million in damages and requested the accused companies to issue apologies on well-known Chinese websites and social media platforms such as Sina.com, Tencent.com, NetEase.com as well as major mobile app stores. The Japanese firm has applied to the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court for an order to stop the development, distribution, operation and promotion of the game, according to the filing.

Zhongnan Heavy Industries said in its filing that the case has yet to be heard in court, so it was “impossible to judge the impact on the current or future profits of the company”, according to SCMP’s report. A check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw Pocket Monster Reissue, the game in question is still available for download on Apple’s App Store.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Pokémon Company for additional information.

Launched in 2016,  Pokémon GO was created to gather trainers around the world and play Pokémon GO together in new and exciting ways by overcome challenges, catching more Pokémon to forge friendships globally, which has led to Pokémon GO frenzies in many places around the world. 

Previously in June this year, The National Basketball Association (NBA) was teaming up with Pokémon Go developer Niantic to create an original AR mobile game titled "NBA All-World". The league touts this as "a first-of-its-kind game" that will place NBA fans into the real-world metaverse.

NBA All-World is a free-to-play officially licenced geolocation basketball game where players can find, challenge, and compete against today’s NBA ballers in their neighbourhoods, and then recruit them to their team. NBA All-World will also embrace the fashion of the NBA, with users having the ability to outfit players in the game with custom apparel.

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