Nintendo has argued mods shouldn't be recognised as "prior art", and therefore are irrelevant to its ongoing lawsuit with Palworld creator Pocketpair. As part of its defence against alleged copyright infringement of the Pokémon games, Pocketpair has pointed to mods as an example of prior art that would invalidate Nintendo's patent claims. Specifically, it highlighted the Pocket Souls Pokémon mod for Dark Souls 3, which allows players to capture and battle with enemies in the game. As Game Fray points out, game makers often look to mods for inspiration, so Pocketpair's defence should be valid. PC Gamer reported Japanese courts have a history of siding with patent lawsuit defendants able to present examples of prior art.