Back in January of this year, a third-party accessory manufacturer was showing off a bunch of accessories for the forthcoming Switch 2 at CES 2025. The problem? No one had officially seen a Switch 2 in the wild. Despite plenty of leaks, Nintendo wouldn’t unveil the console until about a week after CES. Genki would later clarify that all of its designs were based on the leaked specifications of the Switch 2.
Over the weekend, The Game Post reported that Nintendo was suing Genki’s parent company, Human Things, claiming trademark infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising. Nintendo claims the accessories could have been misinterpreted as an official partnership with Nintendo. Back in January, Nintendo even had to make a statement clarifying that “the gaming hardware that Genki presented as Nintendo hardware at CES is unofficial and was not provided to the company by us,” as reported by the Japanese arm of CNET.
Even after the harsh response from Nintendo denying the partnership, Genki continued to pump up its accessory plans for the Switch 2. Just before the official Switch 2-centric Nintendo Direct, Genki hosted a “Genki Indirect” on YouTube, highlighting the wide range of Switch 2 products they were working on.
In response to the lawsuit, Genki posted a statement on X, stating “While we can’t comment in detail, we’re continuing preparations to fulfill orders and showcase our newest products at PAX East this week.”
The new lawsuit from Nintendo makes it clear that there’s a limit to the company’s patience regarding third-party accessory makers riding on the coattails of a console launch. In addition to the destruction of Genki’s Switch hardware, Nintendo is also seeking “damages it has sustained as a result of Defendant’s infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising, and that said damages be trebled.” That sounds … expensive.
