The Pokemon Company has reached a "mediated settlement" with the operators of a mobile game, which it previously filed a lawsuit against in China for alleged intellectual property rights infringement.
The game itself, known as Pocket Monster: Remake, or The Pocket Journey (it was also referred to in previous reports as Pocket Monster Reissue) has been running since 2015, and Automaton reports that it featured designs that were allegedly a bit too similar to existing Pokemon characters, from anime protag Ash or certain creatures themselves.
Now, though, a settlement has been reached with game operators Guangzhou Maichi Network Technology Co., Ltd. and Khorgos Fangchi Network Technology Co., Ltd., which have also issued a joint public apology to The Pokemon Company.
In the official, translated apology, the operators say their game "has extensively used design elements of the well-known Pokemon video game series, infringing the copyrights related to the Pokemon video games, and has unfairly taken advantage of the fame and reputation of the Pokemon video games, thereby constituting acts of unfair competition." This in turn "caused significant economic losses to the rights holders and severely damaged the image of the original Pokemon video games," the apology continues. "We hereby sincerely apologize to TPC and other rights holders, as well as the vast number of players, consumers, and the general public.
The game has now been completely removed from the market and operations have ceased. At the same time, we have paid a substantial economic price and incurred significant reputational damage.