Nintendo recently argued that mods for games can't be used as examples of 'prior art' to invalidate patents like the ones it's using in its lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair, in a take that one US patent law expert says is "so wrong, it hurts."
Nintendo and The Pokemon Company's lawsuit against Pocketpair has been ongoing for over a year now, after the companies alleged that the survival game devs had infringed upon multiple patents, including ones related to Poke Ball-style catching mechanics and boarding and riding mounts. One of Pocketpair's defences against these claims involved pointing to examples of 'prior art' – evidence that an invention was already known prior to a patent's filing – which can determine if an idea is novel enough to be patented.
