Overview
The legal department of Nintendo is often used by others to refer to Nintendo's infamous copyright infringement practices.
Nintendo does not disclose its internal structure, so specific information is not available, but it seems certain that the legal department is currently named Nintendo Intellectual Property Department (任天堂知的財産部). The department's main duties are "intellectual property rights acquisition and maintenance," "investigation of prior intellectual property rights," "intellectual property disputes and lawsuits," and "anti-counterfeiting measures," according to the announcement.
The reason why Nintendo's legal department is famous is that it is extremely strong in civil lawsuits such as copyright infringement and patent infringement. This is because the majority of Nintendo's revenue comes from video game hardware and software. These two are, so to speak, the company's lifeline. In other words, the company must be sensitive to intellectual property rights such as copyrights and patents, which are closely related to the survival of these products, so it is assumed that the company is strong. This is even more so since they have made all possible preparations in advance and do not enter into a game in which they have no chance of winning the case.
However, even though they are strong, they do not always win, and sometimes they lose their cases. Even so, it is known as "Nintendo's last trump card" because of their many legendary victories, such as bringing about a settlement in a court case that was said to be inevitable.
