By Sagar V. Mankar 
The Pokémon Company has successfully won its legal battle against a Chinese mobile game that copied its popular characters and gameplay elements.
The creators of an unlicensed mobile app called “Pocket Monsters” have been ordered to pay “substantial” damages and issue a public apology. While the exact amount remains undisclosed, The Pokémon Company had initially claimed damages of $72 million (£57 million) for the unauthorized use of their characters and gameplay elements.
The legal dispute, which began in December 2021, centered around a mobile game that had been operating since 2015. According to court documents, this copycat game had generated impressive revenues, earning approximately $42 million in just one year through its blatant imitation of beloved Pokémon characters, including the iconic Pikachu and Ash Ketchum.
By September 2024, the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court ruled in favor of The Pokémon Company, ordering the developers to pay 107 million yuan (around $15 million USD). However, the two companies behind the game—Guangzhou Maichi Network Technology and Khorgos Fangchi Network Technology—appealed the ruling. As reported by Automaton, their resistance proved futile, as a Chinese court ultimately upheld the decision, forcing them to accept defeat.
In their formal statement published on The Pokémon Company’s website, the companies acknowledged their wrongdoing, stating, “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.”
Beyond financial penalties, the infringing game—known under different names such as Pocket Monster: Remake and Pocket Monster: Issue/Reissue—has been permanently removed from all platforms.
The companies have expressed deep regret, stating they have “learned their lessons” after paying “a substantial economic price and incurred significant reputational damage.”