CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sports Politics, Policy and Law
This article is part of the Research TopicSport Governance: Challenges, Developments, and Future PathwaysView all 4 articles
Whose Game is it Anyway? Palworld and the New Frontier of Intellectual Property in eSports
Provisionally accepted
- Universidad Senor de Sipan SAC, Chiclayo, Peru
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This paper explores key concepts of intellectual property in shaping the legal framework and challenges of the burgeoning eSports industry. The author argues that intellectual property extends beyond mere asset protection, acting as a strategic factor that drives competitiveness, innovation, and collaboration within this dynamic ecosystem. Furthermore, through a theoretical framework, the analysis of the potential legal issues surrounding the Palworld case as an illustration of tensions between creativity and rights, the examination of contracts and copyright licenses, and a proposal of guidelines against infringements, the paper highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to intellectual property in eSports. The findings underscore the importance of protecting copyrights, managing contracts and licenses, and safeguarding trademarks and Trade Dress to ensure the sustainable development and integrity of the industry.
Keywords: eSports, Intellectual Property, Copyright, Contracts, Trade dress
Received: 24 Jun 2025; Accepted: 12 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Vargas-Chaves, Inoñán-Mujica, González-Herrera and Anacleto-Gómez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Iván Vargas-Chaves, vargasivan@uss.edu.pe
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