Nintendo’s Legal Hot Streak: From Palworld Patents to Piracy Crackdowns

How the gaming giant is aggressively protecting its IP across courts worldwide

The Mario Brothers have good reason to celebrate.

In the high-stakes world of intellectual property, few companies guard their turf as fiercely—or as successfully—as Nintendo. Over the past year, the Mario maker has notched a string of major courtroom victories on multiple fronts: targeting infringing games, cracking down on piracy websites, and shutting down counterfeit goods. From its high-profile legal battle against Palworld to multimillion-dollar judgments against counterfeiters and file-sharing sites, Nintendo’s message is clear: when it comes to protecting its creations, it’s game on.

Nintendo vs. Palworld: An IP Battle Levels Up

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company (TPC) have recently secured their third U.S. patent related to alleged infringements by Palworld, the breakout title from developer Pocketpair. A fourth patent is reportedly close to being granted, further strengthening Nintendo’s hand.

Patent analyst Florian Mueller suggests these developments are strong signs that Nintendo is preparing for a second legal strike against Pocketpair—this time on U.S. soil. According to Mueller, the timing of any new complaint likely hinges on the approval of Nintendo’s amended patent application (No. 18/652,883), with a potential lawsuit expected between late spring and summer 2025.

Pocketpair has publicly stated it will fight the lawsuit but has yet to address the daunting prospect of simultaneous legal battles in both Japan and the United States. Internally, the initial lawsuit announcement blindsided the Palworld team. At GDC 2025, Pocketpair’s global community manager John Buckley described the day the lawsuit was filed as "very depressing," revealing that the developer had to scale back its Tokyo Game Show presence and even hire security guards in response.

Despite these setbacks, Pocketpair maintains that it conducted legal checks before Palworld’s release—only to be caught off guard when Nintendo focused its claims on recently registered patents. Whether the dispute settles quietly or escalates into a global courtroom war remains to be seen, but as Mueller notes, "war appears more likely than peace" at this point.

Piracy Crackdowns: Dstorage Defeated

Nintendo's legal triumphs aren’t confined to Palworld. The company also celebrated a significant anti-piracy victory over Dstorage, the French operator behind the file-sharing site 1fichier.com.

Following years of litigation, including appeals reaching France’s highest court, Nintendo secured a final ruling forcing Dstorage—and by extension, other European hosting services—to remove pirated games upon request or face serious financial penalties. Dstorage was initially ordered to pay €935,000 in damages in 2021, with additional costs piling up after failed appeals.

Nintendo hailed the decision as a major win not just for itself, but for the entire gaming industry, emphasizing that piracy hurts legitimate developers and degrades the player experience.

This victory also coincided with broader efforts by Nintendo to root out piracy: from the shutdown of the Switch emulator Yuzu, to lawsuits against individual streamers promoting pirated content, to identifying and suing operators of pirate storefronts selling massive libraries of stolen games.

Fake Amiibo Sellers Hit With $7 Million Judgment

In yet another major success, Nintendo—partnering with Amazon—won a $7 million judgment against two sellers of counterfeit Amiibo figures. The sellers failed to respond to Nintendo’s October 2023 lawsuit, leading to a default judgment earlier this year in Seattle.

Both defendants were ordered to cease selling counterfeit products, and their Amazon accounts were suspended. This case highlights Nintendo’s aggressive efforts to protect not only its software IP but also its merchandise and physical branding assets.

Nintendo’s legal team, working closely with brand protection services and Amazon’s internal enforcement programs, made clear that counterfeiters would be pursued vigorously—and that such efforts would not be limited to digital goods alone.

From software to hardware, from the digital cloud to online storefronts, Nintendo has proven that it is willing to go to great lengths—and across multiple countries—to protect its intellectual property. Whether it’s securing patents to fend off rival games, defeating piracy operations, or shutting down counterfeit sales, Nintendo’s multifront legal campaign sends an unmistakable signal: protecting creative assets is not a side quest—it’s a main mission.

As other companies watch Nintendo’s successes unfold, it’s likely that similar enforcement strategies could become even more common industrywide. For developers, hosting services, and resellers alike, the takeaway is simple: don’t underestimate the power—and the reach—of a well-defended IP portfolio.

Key Takeaways

• Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are gearing up for a potential U.S. lawsuit against Palworld, following the approval of multiple related patents.

• Pocketpair’s developers were blindsided by the lawsuit and have had to adjust their operations dramatically amid ongoing legal uncertainty.

• The French Supreme Court upheld Nintendo’s victory over file-sharing site Dstorage, setting a major anti-piracy precedent in Europe.

• Nintendo and Amazon won a $7 million judgment against counterfeit Amiibo sellers, reinforcing their aggressive approach to protecting physical IP products.

• Across games, merchandise, and online platforms, Nintendo is demonstrating the power of a coordinated, persistent IP enforcement strategy.