Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against accessory manufacturer Genki for showing off 3D-printed mockups of the Nintendo Switch 2 ahead of its official announcement.
Nintendo is taking the Genki parent company Human Things to court in California over trademark infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising for its conduct around the Nintendo Switch 2 earlier this year.
If found in Nintendo’s favour, the suit requires Genki to destroy all products related to Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, and to cease using Nintendo’s trademarks again.
Nintendo is also seeking to recover “all damages it has sustained as a result of Defendant’s infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising, and that said damages be trebled.”
Nintendo’s suit lays out what it calls a “timeline of Genki’s wrongdoing,” which began in December 2024 when the company publicly tweeted in response to GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen to discuss “the launch switch 2 accessories [Genki was] working on.”
Genki’s most famous Switch 2-related incident came in January 2025, when an exhibition page for Genki’s presence at the Computer Electronics Show 2025 was posted. The page read, “Happy to discuss any Switch 2 info we may have as well as the stuff we’re making for it.”
Shortly after this, Genki CEO Edawrd Tsai “personally showed off the 3D-printed mockups and stated to different reporters that Genki had or had access to an authentic “Switch 2,” on which Genki based the mockups, renderings, and 3D-printed mockups,” according to the suit.
Nintendo goes on to allege that multiple company representatives, including Tsia, also “did multiple media interviews discussing their eight accessories” and purportedly confirmed specific, highly confidential designs and functionality of the not-yet-announced Nintendo Switch 2.
It was claimed in January that lawyers representing Nintendo approached Genki on the CES showfloor.
Nintendo has also highlighted that following this, Genki displayed a video at its CES, both showing off a render of the then-unannounced Nintendo Switch 2, a render which included Nintendo trademarks such as the Nintendo Switch 2 logo.
Nintendo’s timeline continues with a post on X showing Genki CEO Edward Tsai and the caption “Genki ninjas infiltrate Nintendo Kyoto HQ.”
Nintendo claims that it was “an apparent attempt to further confuse the public as to whether Genki had access to a Nintendo Switch 2 and/or an affiliation with Nintendo.”
In April, one day before Nintendo’s Switch 2 presentation, Nintendo alleges that Genki mass-emailed its marketing list and posted on social media that it would hold its own “Direct” presentation, which Nintendo contests is a blatant infringement of its own Nintendo Direct branding.
Genki’s parent company, Human Things, has 30 days to respond to the allegations.
The Nintendo Switch 2 console is set to be released on June 5.
