The Pokémon Company is suing six Chinese companies over a mobile game bearing strong similarities to the Pokémon franchise. The mobile game isn’t just similar to Pokemon but also uses key art, including Ash Ketchum, Pikachu, Tepig, and Oshawott without any alteration.
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The Japanese franchise owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creature isn’t officially available in China. This opens the door for other companies to develop and distribute Pokemon-like games. The most famous Pokemon dub is called Pocket Monster Reissue, also known as Koudaiyaogaai Fuke in Chinese. The mobile game has been operating without Nintendo’s permission since 2015.
Pocket Monster Reissue reported 300 million yuan ($43 million) in revenue in 2016, just a year after the game was released in China. One of the six sued companies, Zhongnan Heavy Industries, keeps reporting massive revenue increases in 2021. It’s understandable why The Pokémon Company wants to put an end to it.
According to The South China Morning Post, The Pokémon Company is suing six companies involved in developing, distributing, operating, and promoting the said mobile game. The company is seeking compensation of 500 million yuan ($72.5 million) and wants the game removed, along with all the material they used to promote it. The gaming giant also expects a public apology from these six companies on Chinese social media platforms and websites. The lawsuit will take place in Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court after the company’s official application.
This isn’t the first time The Pokémon Company has taken matters to court over intellectual property theft. In 2019 they sued people involved in Sword and Shield leaks. In 2020 the team sued a TikTok influencer Digitalprincxss for trying to trademark her Pokemon-inspired username: Pokeprincxss. The company forced them to change their username and pay back the money they earned through the merchandise which featured Pokemon images.
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