So, you’ve gotten yourself a 3D printer recently and cannot wait to get started on your own project. So did Claudia Ng, where one of her first projects happened to be creating a Pokémon-themed planter for a friend, as you can see above. After that, she also placed this design on Shapeways, which proved to be extremely popular, although there was nothing quite like it in the official merchandise line to date. Eventually, Shapeways received a cease and desist from Pokémon International for infringement, and it was subsequently removed.
Nintendo then asked for all of the money that were garnered due to association with this model, not to mention Shapeways will no longer print or ship any more orders. Needless to say, the entire outcome is not exactly surprising, considering what a cash cow the Pokemon franchise is. Ng shared, “I thought that this would fall under the boundaries of derivative and transformative work. I’m also not a lawyer, and I guess that is the least defined of rules and regulation. It’s not that surprising. I just expected that they would go after people with more infringing designs. Although I admit that it was inspired by my personal favorite starter Pokemon. It’s generic-ness has been adored by people who are not Pokémon fans. Most commonly recognized as a Fat Cat. I’ve also had requests to do other animals and creatures.”
Will Nintendo take this opportunity to turn this into an actual merchandise after this case?
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