How does that work exactly? You can’t retroactively sue someone over a patent before it was granted… in fact, once you realize the mechanic was already out there, and patent shouldn’t be granted at all.
And even then, the US patent office often will grant unenforceable patents, that then explode in the patent holder’s faces the first time they try to use them.
The granted one in this case is about “the process of aiming and capturing characters”, which they either had to make so specific as to not apply to anybody else, or general enough that there are piles of prior art out there.
It would take time in the court for people to figure that out and they would use ill-granted patents like a hammer.
Indie: Release a new game with unique catching mechanic
Nintendo: “REEEEEE! We have valid patent, so give us all of your profit, assets plus penalty or we will sue you to make you die poor like that one Gary Bowser over there.”
Indie: “WTF?”
Even if Indie developers try to fight in court, they’ll spend multiple years, hundred of thousands of dollars in legal fees and on top of that, because Nintendo have a patent that was stupidly granted by patent office, they can argue on a ground that their lawsuit is not frivolous.
Valve almost died as a company, because of those sort of people before if you watched their documentary, they only won, because the mega-corporation emailed about destroying the evidence.
How does that work exactly? You can’t retroactively sue someone over a patent before it was granted… in fact, once you realize the mechanic was already out there, and patent shouldn’t be granted at all.
I assume that’s why there’s a 95% rejection rate, they’re just fumbling to find any mechanics that haven’t already been used in other games.
And even then, the US patent office often will grant unenforceable patents, that then explode in the patent holder’s faces the first time they try to use them.
The granted one in this case is about “the process of aiming and capturing characters”, which they either had to make so specific as to not apply to anybody else, or general enough that there are piles of prior art out there.
Except anything they try to patent was already done by the GTA V Pokémon mod several years before any 3D Pokémon game
It would take time in the court for people to figure that out and they would use ill-granted patents like a hammer.
Indie: Release a new game with unique catching mechanic
Nintendo: “REEEEEE! We have valid patent, so give us all of your profit, assets plus penalty or we will sue you to make you die poor like that one Gary Bowser over there.”
Indie: “WTF?”
Even if Indie developers try to fight in court, they’ll spend multiple years, hundred of thousands of dollars in legal fees and on top of that, because Nintendo have a patent that was stupidly granted by patent office, they can argue on a ground that their lawsuit is not frivolous.
Valve almost died as a company, because of those sort of people before if you watched their documentary, they only won, because the mega-corporation emailed about destroying the evidence.