Nintendo Argues Game Mods Aren't "Prior Art" In Palworld Lawsuit

Levi Winslow
9/19/2025

Nintendo's legal battle against Palworld developer Pocketpair has intensified, as the Japanese game-making company alleges in part of its ongoing lawsuit that user-made mods don't constitute "prior art."While Pocketpair previously claimed that mods (such as the Dark Souls 3 Pokemon mod Pocket Souls) invalidate Nintendo's patents, Games Fray (via IGN) has reported on September 16 that the Pokemon creator has argued in the ongoing lawsuit that, because mods require games to function, anything created by users isn't "prior art."Essentially, Nintendo is claiming that mods are "fair game" as they could be patented by someone else. Thus, the company fears that its gameplay ideas and innovations could similarly be lifted and used by anyone. As IGN noted on September 19, this is particularly worrying for the games industry because patent thieves could theoretically create entire games out of just mods.Continue Reading at GameSpot...

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Categories: Games | Nintendo

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