Reporting and commentary on games industry issues and related regulatory matters
Joined December 2023
- Tweets550
- Following107
- Followers1.3K
- Likes215
Two charts visualize #Nintendo’s gamesmanship against Pocketpair: #Palworld came first, Nintendo’s patents second
gamesfray.com/two-charts-vis…
Japan Patent Office rejects Nintendo’s touchscreen monster capture patent and its attack on use of indie gameplay video as prior art
gamesfray.com/japan-patent-o…
The #Nintendo v. #Pocketpair case has been taken over by a new judge.
Judge Motoyuki Nakashima, who was in charge from the filing until recently, was promoted in April to the Tokyo High Court, 22nd Civil Division. That's an appeals court.
His successor: Judge Naoyuki Iwai.
There's a lot of interest in our article from yesterday about #Nintendo v. #Pocketpair (#Pokemon v. #Palworld). We've added a section about *why* there isn't much money in play. Nintendo missed the initial wave of Palworld sales and then Pocketpair modified the game. Short window
Ahead of October 1 court hearing, #Nintendo has zero chance of prevailing over current #Palworld versions: it may get $30K chump change
The parties have submitted their arguments and evidence (#Pocketpair filed expert opinions by former judges).
gamesfray.com/ahead-of-octob…
This YouTube video points to our article on the anti-Palworld-Mobile Nintendo patent application that the Japan Patent Office has, for now, rejected. We wouldn't insult Nintendo like this YouTube video does. But they should stop patenting game rules.
youtube.com/shorts/95eaSfhp0…
Taking aim at #Palworld Mobile: #Nintendo trying to obtain touchscreen-specific patent on monster capturing — and thus far failing
They filed it in February, paid for a fast-tracked review, and the Japan Patent Office's answer was a well-reasoned NO.
gamesfray.com/taking-aim-at-…
Nintendo lost $40M on litigation between April 2025 and March 2026: how much of that is related to Palworld?
gamesfray.com/nintendo-lost-…
USPTO #patent examiner rejects #Nintendo’s “summon subcharacter and let it fight in 1 of 2 modes” patent as obvious: non-final ruling
Gamers would have looked at real-world games, but this reexamination is based on earlier-published patent applications.
gamesfray.com/u-s-patent-exa…
#Valve has just won a $152K jury verdict against an inventor named Leigh Rothschild and his former attorney under an anti-patent-troll law in the State of Washington. They don't need the money and litigation costs were higher anyway. It's about deterring bad-faith assertions.
GAME OVER: #Sony and #Tencent have settled their dispute over Light of Motiram; Judge Corley’s staff has already closed the case
gamesfray.com/game-over-sony…
After 15 years of suing third-party Wii controller maker Bigben (Nacon) over a patent, #Nintendo has won a 7 million euro damages judgment — which is now being appealed
Prediction: the dispute with @Palworld_EN won't last even a third as long.
gamesfray.com/after-15-years…
games fray retweeted
‘Striking’ and ‘extremely rare’: Japanese patent community reacts to USPTO Director Squires #Nintendo patent reexamination order
ipfray.com/striking-and-extr…
This could be the most important development for the smartphone business in the Android-iPhone era since the launch of the Apple and Google app stores.
If this goes through and developers and consumers value the benefits, it will put enormous pressure on Apple to open up.
Google has made an awesome proposal, subject to court approval, to open up Android in the US Epic v Google case and settle our disputes. It genuinely doubles down on Android's original vision as an open platform to streamline competing store installs globally, reduce service fees for developers on Google Play, and enable third-party in-app and web payments.
This is a comprehensive solution, which stands in contrast to Apple’s model of blocking all competing stores and leaving payments as the only vector for competition. The public filings are live.
HUGE blow for @Nintendo: head of U.S. patent office takes RARE step to order reexamination of “summon subcharacter and let it fight in 1 of 2 modes” #patent
Public outrage, starting with a @games_fray article, must have led the @uspto to take a 2nd look.
gamesfray.com/huge-blow-for-…
#Sony, #Tencent agree to push #LightofMotiram injunction hearing into 2026; meanwhile, Tencent points to multiple Mickey Mouse trademarks
Sony's lead counsel can't come to a hearing on Dec 4. because she'll be in NY representing Microsoft against the NYT
gamesfray.com/sony-tencent-a…
Japan Patent Office rejects @Nintendo application relevant to @Palworld_EN dispute, cites games like ARK as prior art after third-party submission
Is Pocketpair behind that submission? The timing and the content of the submission suggest so.
gamesfray.com/japan-patent-o…
BREAKING: #Sony asks Judge Corley for preliminary injunction against #Tencent’s upcoming Light of Motiram in November or December
They want a November 20 hearing, which may be wishful thinking. Tencent says its game launch is still two years away.
gamesfray.com/breaking-sony-…
#Sony points Judge Corley to 2016 #Tencent filing stressing its California presence, adjusts its argument to late-2027 Light of Motiram release date
Sony filed a well-crafted opposition brief to Tencent's motion to dismiss, but is the case really urgent?
gamesfray.com/sony-points-ju…
Leaks of upcoming Nintendo title call motives behind Palworld patent suit into question: attempt to create reality distortion field?
Is it all about saying that Nintendo is the true innovator when in reality is is now in part a (not so fast) follower?
gamesfray.com/leaks-of-upcom…