Nintendo Claims "Mods Aren't Prior Art" in Palworld Patent Dispute

Image Credit: Nintendo/Pocketpair

Nintendo’s ongoing legal battle with Palworld developer Pocketpair continues in Japan, with fresh court filings revealing a controversial stance on the role of game mods in patent law.

According to reports from Gamesfray, Nintendo has amended one of its patents and asked the Tokyo District Court not to treat mods as "prior art," a move that litigation experts warn could have "major consequences" for the wider gaming industry.

Why Mods Are at the Center of the Case

In patent law, "prior art" refers to any previously existing idea or invention that can challenge the originality of a new patent.

In February, Pocketpair’s legal defense has argued that Nintendo’s patents, filed in 2021, aren’t entirely new because similar concepts had already appeared in multiple games like ARK: Survival Evolved, Tomb Raider, Far Cry 5, Final Fantasy XIV, and even in some mods years earlier.

One major example cited was Pocket Souls, a Dark Souls 3 mod that reimagines the game as a Pokémon-style adventure. Players can capture creatures, build teams, and engage in trainer battles, echoing mechanics Nintendo claims to have patented.

Pocketpair argues that Nintendo’s patents just remix existing mechanics that were already well known in gaming years before Nintendo’s filing.

Nintendo, however, contends that mods don’t qualify as prior art because they rely on an "existing game engine and aren’t standalone works." If the court sides with this reasoning, it could set a precedent that excludes mod innovations from legal recognition.

Patent litigation expert Florian Müller, writing for Gamesfray, described Nintendo’s stance as "gross" and warned that modders could become "fair game" with their ideas potentially being patented by someone else.

He argues that modders contribute genuine, incremental innovation and that their work often serves as inspiration for the industry at large.

History supports that view. Some of gaming’s most influential titles began as mods. Counter-Strike started as a Half-Life mod in 1999 before becoming a standalone franchise.

In many jurisdictions, hobbyists rarely file patents. If Nintendo’s position prevails, modders worldwide would face the risk of seeing their creative work patented by larger companies, forcing them to either pursue expensive legal protections or risk being shut out of their own innovations.