Level-5, the developers behind the Professor Layton games as well as the popular Inazuma Eleven series, is facing a lawsuit over in Japan. Sega has filed a patent infringement suit against the company, stating that a certain mechanic put into its soccer-based Inazuma games is a little too close to Sega’s technology.
It mostly revolves around moving characters around with either fingers or a stylus, a feature that Sega believes they have innovated.
Sega is looking for the sales of Inazuma games to be halted (all eight releases – wondering why it never came out here, y’know?) and seeks 900 million yen ($11 million here) in damages. The case has already heard opening statements, and Level-5 is combatting the charges. “We are preparing our rebuttal and do not have any comments to make at this time,” said a company rep.
Here’s hoping that everything gets worked out for the better. It is Christmas, after all…
