The Pokemon Company is taking legal aim at a handful of individuals it believes leaked images from the then-unreleased Pokemon Sword and Shield strategy guide online ahead of its release, though the actual names of those involved remain unknown.
Polygon spotted a lawsuit filed by the Pokemon Company against John/Jane Does 1-3 that accuses the parties involved of stealing trade secrets, and thus harming the launch of both the strategy guide and the games themselves.
While the actual identities of the leakers are still a mystery, filing a lawsuit in this matter can make it easier to identify those involved based on the scattered Discord logs and other leads the company’s legal team has already pulled together.
So far, the Pokemon Company was able to trace pictures taken of the strategy guide to a handful of Discord messages posted on November 1. From there, the images spread to the wider internet (despite a number of takedown requests submitted by the company).
In the lawsuit, the Pokemon Company notes that that information like what the leaks circulated is generally only accessible to certain groups of employees and contractors, and that NDAs and other security methods are employed to make sure that information isn’t passed on or accessed by those outside the company.
The whole ordeal, according to the lawsuit, has resulted in actual damages, lost profits, a reputation hit, and, if perpetrators are left unidentified, future harm as well. As such the company is seeking damages to be determined at trial, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees.