Nintendo of America has taken a step into the courtroom, aiming its legal eye at Genki’s parent company, Human Things. They whipped out the 1946 Trademark Act, waving it for concerns about “trademark infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising.” You gotta love this legal stuff.
Anyway, big shoutout to OatmealDome for catching this – they’ve got a knack, apparently. So, Nintendo’s lawyers went full novel-mode, cranking out 27 pages detailing why they think Genki’s on the naughty list. There was some weird back-and-forth, where Genki supposedly claimed and then kind of didn’t claim they had their hands on the Nintendo Switch 2. Like, were they bluffing with fake accessories? Who knows.
Here’s a twist: Genki reached out to GameStop’s CEO Ryan Cohen in 2024, talking about launching Switch 2 gear. Yeah, they weren’t holding back. And in Jan ’25, right before CES, they announced plans for a media gig on Jan 7. The teaser was all like, “Any Switch 2 deets? We got ’em!” Spoiler alert: didn’t quite pan out as they might’ve hoped.
So imagine this: at CES, Genki showcased what they said were mockups of Nintendo Switch 2 gear. They had these 3D printed dealies, strutting around like they had special access or something. Reporters got to play with these things—a bit too bold, maybe?
Naturally, folks started wondering if Nintendo was sending secret gear to Genki. Nintendo had to jump in, “Nah, what you saw isn’t legit Nintendo hardware.” Ouch. Genki had to eat their words, backpedaling on claims about having insider info.
Oh, and Genki made some cheeky social posts pretending their CEO Edward Tsai had some Mission Impossible moment at Nintendo’s HQ in Japan. I mean, come on.
The paperwork just piles on, honestly, and it’s hard not to nod along with Nintendo here. Let’s watch this drama unfold, popcorn at the ready.
