WotC sues Nintendo over Pokemon

Krug · Oct 13, 2003

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/143467_pokemon11.html

Jeph · Oct 13, 2003

Woudn't it be impossible for another company to start making Pokemon cards, since Wizards holds the patent on turning cards sideways or upside down to denote in game effects?

RSKennan · Oct 13, 2003

Jeph- an unrelated question; How could they own a patent on that kind of thing? I believe you, but I never thought that was possible.

HellHound · Oct 13, 2003

WotC did indeed patent the 'tapping' rules for CCGs. I was stunned by the patent myself, let alone that it was aproved and then that no one challenged it in court.

pogre · Oct 13, 2003

HellHound said:
WotC did indeed patent the 'tapping' rules for CCGs. I was stunned by the patent myself, let alone that it was aproved and then that no one challenged it in court.

An expensive proposition and a difficult suit = let it go.

Until now

I think they're fighting over a dead horse.

F5 · Oct 13, 2003

pogre said:
I think they're fighting over a dead horse.

I think this could potentially be a very clever thing on Wizards' part.

They see that the Pokemon card game has lost all its' steam. Nintendo starts making moves that they want to start up their own Pokemon card game. Wizards sues, and gets some kind of settlement (notice that the article says they're not looking for a specific monetary amount, but "unspecified damages"). Ultimately, Nintendo pays up for the rights to publish a card game that was dying painfully anyway, and Wizards gets a big boost.

All pointless guessing, but it's a possibility.

WayneLigon · Oct 13, 2003

Huh. I thought that WOTC had the license from whatever Japanese company that created Pokemon, but decided against renewing it this year. So .. would that not mean that someone else could do a Pokemon card game?

Desdichado · Oct 13, 2003

You'd be surprised what can be patented and what can't. I see this kind of stuff fairly regularly.

TheAuldGrump · Oct 13, 2003

Except that WOTC owns the basic patents on several of the mechanics core to collectible card games. And if the new game is too similar to those mechanics...

The License from Nintendo is for use of the Pokemon trademark, the game is a seperate (or mostly seperate) issue. Things get complicated when multiple licenses and trademarks are used. I wish the article had more information on the nature of the suit.

The Auld Grump