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ARTICLE · 02 MARCH 2018

Pikachu-se your fights carefully against copyright infringers

McCullough Robertson
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The court determined that Pokémon (TPCI) could not show that it suffered loss or damage, so damages were only nominal.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Belinda Breakspear
Belinda Breakspear
Caroline Law-Walsh
Caroline Law-Walsh
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In mid 2016, the Pokémon Go augmented reality game was the talk of the town with children to adults roaming the streets, phone in hand, trying to "catch'em all". Pikachu, a central character in the series, is recognisable by most. One would assume that copying the famous Pikachu image would be fraught with danger. Right?

In a recent case, The Pokémon Company International, Inc. (TPCI) commenced Federal Court proceedings against Redbubble Ltd (Redbubble) claiming copyright infringement of TPCI's Pikachu image (among others). While the court found in favour of TPCI, TPCI was awarded 70% of its legal costs and nominal damages of only AU$1.

So why the low damages claim?

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