Genki settles trademark infringement lawsuit with Nintendo, agrees to pay over Switch 2 mockup

Genki has agreed to settle a trademark infringement lawsuit with Nintendo for an undisclosed sum, new court documents reveal.

The Switch 2's pre-release leaks reportedly caused confusion and fury behind the scenes at Nintendo as Chinese supply line workers, not Nintendo themselves, revealed the new console's new design and uploaded files for 3D-printable mock-ups. Genki, a company that makes gaming peripherals such as cases, printed a Switch 2 mockup and took it to a trade show, and revealed the 3D-printed mockup to both the press and the world via an animated video.

Nintendo responded by suing Genki for alleged trademark infringement. After a few months of back-and-forth, the two parties have reached an agreement to settle. Genki will pay Nintendo a specific amount of money in damages and is barred from falsely advertising Nintendo products in confusing ways--using names like "Genki Direct" for accessory showcases is also forbidden.

"The parties have resolved Plaintiff's claims in this action pursuant to a separate confidential settlement agreement," the judge ruled.

This is the latest in a fusillade of lawsuits that Nintendo has recently filed, ranging from copyright infringement complaints against the likes of Palworld, to individual lawsuits against modders, emulation websites, and leakers.

It's also possible that these kinds of scenarios are making it harder for actual game developers to release titles onto the Switch 2. Nintendo has been extremely selective on which companies get Switch 2 devkits, which are required to test the game out before it can launch on the platform. There have also been reports that Nintendo delayed the Switch 2 multiple times at the behest of its own first-party game developers.

Despite its high level of care, Nintendo's attempts for a simultaneous global launch may have been the main culprit for the Switch 2 leaks.