We have said it before but of all companies in the world, you really don’t want to bother The Pokémon Company; and seems like six Chinese companies didn’t get the memo and now are in big problems after ripping off one of the biggest franchises in the entertainment world.
This week the Japanese company filed a lawsuit against 6 Chinese companies that operate a game that copies Pokémon. As reported by Kotaku the Pocket Monster Reissue, a game for iPhone and Android copies several Pokémon ideas and even uses some of the official Pokémon characters.
They thought they were getting away with it
Pocket Monster Reissue arrived on major Chinese app stores in 2015, and according to a stock exchange filing by one of the defendants, Jiangyin Zhongnan Heavy Industries Co made over $4 million a month in its first year with profits growing and growing every year.
As you can imagine, this situation made The Pokémon Company extremely mad, so they took legal action accusing them of using material without their authorization and demanding over $72 million in damages and demanding public apologies on major social media platforms, gaming websites, and app stores. The apology needs to be posted specifically on Sina.com, Tencent.com and NetEase.com.
It is worth mentioning that this massive growth was thanks to the fact that several Pokémon releases are not available in China, with Pokémon Sun and Moon being the first games that received an official Chinese port. In other words, it was a product that filled a gap in the market, although it did so illegally.
What is even more surprising is the fact that they did get away with it for seven long years… Have you come across Pokémon clones on the Internet? Do you think The Pokémon Company is taking the best course of action? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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