[Discussion] Pokemon Takedown Notice Questions

[Xackery]

I reviewed the rules to the best of my ability, and *think* this is the proper area to bring up this discussion as it is related to Game Development. I did search the forums for "takedown" and "cease and desist", and did not get any results, so here I go. I will bold sentences of summary if you are a tl;dr person

I have done research on the matter of Pokémon takedown notices, googling "Pokemon takedown notice", and also "Pokémon cease and desist". It appears any product that is publicly produced (even fan-made for non-profit) can be subject to a take down notice of "The Pokémon Company" (a subsidiary of Nintendo that manages property outside of Asia).

My curiosity stemmed as I did research about designing a product I had an idea about. The product was going to be heavily inspired by Pokémon Yellow, be web based, and fueled by donations if it grew beyond my budget. I found that while competition existed for my idea, most were relatively fresh products, which considering the age of Pokémon, seemed unusual. More research resulted in me finding details about the android market being flooded with cease and desist messages for any Poké-keyword apps.

I came to the conclusion that The Pokémon Company holds firm to their intellectual property, and is quick to shut down any products it catches wind of.

I am curious, what are your experiences with Pokémon Takedowns? Do you know of any products that were successful, not made by Gamefreak, and still kicking over years of uptime?

Why am I curious? I want to know what sort of market is out there if I do make a successful product, and felt my research may be beneficial for others who dream beyond fan made products.

Thank you for your time,
-Xack

 

[Worldslayer608]

Pretty sure the only instance where this issue arises is when there is capital to be gained off infringement.

Check out Zenforms if you are looking to see something that is in flavor of Pokémon yet entirely different.

 

[DarkDoom3000]

Aslong as it isn't an online mmo, then you should be able to fly under their radar.

Plus, if all else fails, torrent it. impossible to take down.

 

[Neo-Dragon]

I've been on this community for a long time and I've only ever seen one game receive a cease and desist email/letter from Nintendo. Not 100% sure on the name, but it was a pokemon MMO.

By law, if you own a trademark to a product, you have to actively fight for it or you lose it. Even sometimes if it's a website only highlighting how cool your product is (most companies have licences to allow sites to borrow a licence to make posts and articles). Square Enix are known for sending a lot of cease and desist notices to sites and fan games. Nintendo/Pokemon company really hasnt.

A member from here emailed Nintendo on the matter in 2006 (I think, might of been 2005). They said that they own the trademark blah blah blah. Usual stuff you would expect someone emailing that information would say. But again, speaking from experience, I've only ever seen 1 game get a notice.

If you have a game with you own idea like pokemon well then go for it. I'm currently developing a game like pokemon for iPhone. It's just like GTA and Saints Row, or Call of Duty and Battlefield. I'm sure people can compare those games the same way.

 

[Xackery]

My idea is semi-MMO style (depends on what you define an MMO as), though. Web based, and does allow interaction between players. This is my light of concern. What do you guys think, try it and see how far I get before they decide I am using their name too much? Or avoid it, and focus my efforts on another product?

I don't plan to use any of their newer line products, I plan to keep it classic R/B/Y-styled, with a possible fork.

 

[Neo-Dragon]

Can anyone help me remember the name of that mmo?
It was web based too and did that stuff.

My advice would be to run with your idea and get working on it. You'll have a fun time doing it, most likely bring joy and fun to others playing it, and learn a lot in the process. WORST case scenario is that you get that email from Nintendo. I'd be willing to bet that the odds are really low of that happening!

Edit:
This is the thread I was talking about from here years ago. https://mail.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=25132

 

[Rossay]

You're most likely going to get a cease and desist letter at some stage in development if you're making any kind of Pokemon game with online capability.

I remember reading a letter (I think it was a separate one to the one Neo is referring) from Nintendo implying that although they have the legal rights to stop any and all fan-games, they would only really ever pursue profit-generating / online games. Which, in fairness, is wholly reasonable.

I suggest you either stick to making an offline game or you make an original online game. You don't want to spend loads of time putting in work to eventually be smacked with an infringement of copyright notice.

 

[Ho-oh 112]

Not really, look here: https://tpmrpg.net/ it's been there for years, and https://tppcrpg.net too, they are pretty popular, and havn't been shut down.
@neo dragon the rpg's name was Pokemon Crater

 

[Xackery]

https://tpmrpg.net Creation date: 27 Oct 2007 00:53:00 Unique Visitors per Month: ~30k
https://tppcrpg.net Created on: 19-Oct-00 Unique Visitors per Month: ~15k
https://www.delugerpg.com Creation date: 02 Feb 2011 02:35:00 Unique Visitors Per Month: ~11k

Interesting. Granted, the most popular, tpmrpg, is getting most of their organic searches via "pokemon rpg" keyword searches.
I'm not sure what to think with that evidence in place.
For tpmrpg:
Primary Statistics
Total Users: 598,093
Online Users: 73

I wonder if the disclaimers help.
All sites have a very clear, very specific disclaimer noting their products are NOT endorsed or affiliated with nintendo, and that all material is copyright of nintendo, etc.

found the owner of the 2007 established one:
https://tpmrpg.net/current_news.php?post_id=200
quoted, "You may have also heard about the recent swarm of "Nintendo legal representatives" shutting down Pokémon websites. If this is true, there is a -chance- that they could target us. Pokémon Black and White Versions are being released within a month or so in America and Europe, which is likely why they are doing this." ..."If we get any such notice, we will ensure that it is real and act accordingly. (honestly, I kind of think these websites just wanted to shut down, so they made people think they got slapped with cease and desist notices, but yeah)

If the result is that the website is shut down, I will have all data backed up just in case I can find some legal solution. At this point, I think the risk is minimal, but I will keep alert to it."

 

[KingCharizard]

Still I'm surprised they did not get the letter if they did then they chose to ignore it. there are ways around the laws. or atleast ways to break them and not get caught...

 

[Kyo The Pro]

One thing I notice is that the three

https://tpmrpg.net Creation date: 27 Oct 2007 00:53:00 Unique Visitors per Month: ~30k
https://tppcrpg.net Created on: 19-Oct-00 Unique Visitors per Month: ~15k
https://www.delugerpg.com Creation date: 02 Feb 2011 02:35:00 Unique Visitors Per Month: ~11k

Do not have a currency donation service but two that got cease and desist letters those being yours and Pokemon crater were accepting donations which is profit you are making from Nintendo property even though it is going toward the project.

I don't know if that's the reason but its an idea another thing that came to mind was a old thread of a letter from Nintendo.

> >From: Nintendo <[email protected]> To: [email removed]
> >Subject: Re : Webform: Software Related > Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2004 07:32:33
> >--800
> >
> >
> >
> >Message(#6851-000385-0290\3850290)
> >
> >Hello and thank you for contacting Nintendo,
> >
> >We appreciate your interest in Nintendo of America Inc.
> >
> >Because we receive so many similar requests, our general policy is to
> >decline such use of our trademarked and copyrighted material. Although
>you
> >are not necessarily restricted from going ahead with your proposal, you
>are
> >restricted from using our trademarked and copyrighted materials in a way
> >which would suggest sponsorship, endorsement or association of such a
> >service by or with Nintendo.
> >
> >Thank you again for contacting Nintendo.
> >Nintendo of America Inc.
> >Nicolas Ramu
> >
> >Nintendo's home page: https://www.nintendo.com/
> >Power Line (Automated Product Info): (425) 885-7529

The android market allowing your product to be sold or distributed on their store is could be considered under sponsorship endorsement or association.

Not only that but they have a problem with things that damage their game sells which a mmo which you are training your Pokemon and fighting other trainers especially if it in the manner of the Pokemon games in which you walk around and walk through grass. Because why go buy a Pokemon game when i have all this progress on my character and team in this mmo.