The Pokémon Company has won “substantial” damages after a long-running battle against a Chinese mobile rip-off, following years of legal wrangling.
While the final amount has not been made public, The Pokémon Company previously said it was owed $72m (£57m) by the makers of an unlicensed Pocket Monsters smartphone app that clearly used Pokémon characters and gameplay.
The Pokémon Company looked to have initially won its case last September, though two of the companies involved (Guangzhou Maichi Network Technology and Khorgos Fangchi Network Technology) appealed the decision, prompting a further delay (thanks, Automaton).
Now, a Chinese court has decided upon the matter for good, and the companies have been forced to admit defeat and issue a public apology.
“We have deeply realised that our acts had violated relevant laws during the second-instance trial and settlement process,” the companies said in a joint public statement, published on The Pokémon Company’s corporate website. “[Our] game has extensively used design elements of the well-known Pokémon video game series, infringing the copyrights related to the Pokémon video games, and has unfairly taken advantage of the fame and reputation of the Pokémon video games, thereby constituting acts of unfair competition.
“Our copyright infringement and acts of unfair competition have caused significant economic losses to the rights holders and severely damaged the image of the original Pokémon video games. We hereby sincerely apologise to TPC and other rights holders, as well as the vast number of players, consumers, and the general public.”
The game, known variously as Pocket Monster: Remake or Pocket Monster: Issue/Reissue, has now been permanently removed from sale. The companies behind the game also say they have paid “a substantial economic price and incurred significant reputational damage”.
“We have deeply reflected on it and learned our lessons.”
Earlier this week, Fortnite maker Epic Games forced a competitive cheater to publicly apologise after unfairly winning thousands of dollars in prize money. The money was taken back, the cheat was banned from playing Fortnite competitively for life, and they had to publish a humiliating public message as a stark warning to others.
