>>52488559There is no legal "need to defend their IP"
Copyright is granted unconditionally to the author of a work and held without reserve by the rights holder until the copyright expires. The copyright holder is responsible for enforcing their copyright but has no obligation to do so. They do not lose their right to enforce their copyright in the future if they permit some degree of infringement.
Trademark can be lost or "abandoned" by the failure of the trademark holder to demonstrate its actual usage, at which point it becomes available for other parties to claim, but the trademarks associated with Pokémon are obviously being actively used by The Pokémon Company and other parties.
