Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against Japanese mobile games developer Colopl for allegedly infringing on five of the publisher's patents.

As reported by Siliconera, one of the patent complaints includes "the special technology used to operate a joystick over a touch panel" found in White Cat Project (Colopl Rune Story). The patent was apparently originally filed in 2006 with regard to the Nintendo DS Wrist Strap.

Nintendo had filed complaints against Colopl back in 2016, but has now decided to escalate this to a lawsuit. The company is seeking 39.33 million yen ($352,400) in damages.

A big deal

White Cat Project remains a major game for Colopl almost four years after it first launched. That said, the game has been in decline throughout 2017 and Colopl has expanded the IP beyond RPG games.

An attempt to bring the game over to the west as Colopl Rune Story was eventually shut down at the end of 2016. The developer had previously told PocketGamer.biz that it had struggled to scale the game outside of Japan.