The feud between President Donald Trump's administration and Harvard University hasn't subsided, and it seems to continue to elevate.

According to CBS News, the Trump administration threatened to pull Harvard's patents that were received as a result of federal funding.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick isn't messing around, as it was reported that he is launching an "immediate comprehensive review" to determine if "Harvard has complied with federal laws around patents, he said in a letter to Harvard President Alan Garber."

Of course, if any patents were pulled as a result of the administration stepping in, it would mark a massive financial blow to the Ivy League university, as its patents are estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

What's happening?

The situation is serious, and Lutnick appears to be poised to take action should he receive the green light to do so.

The commerce secretary "threatened to grant third-party licenses to Harvard's patents or take the titles to any patents where Harvard has failed to comply with government title and disclosure requirements."

Trump's Cabinet official demanded that Harvard provide information on all of the patents it obtained as a result of using federal funds, causing a legal and resource-intensive headache at the very least.

Lutnick released a bombshell statement on the situation with Harvard's patents.

"We believe that Harvard has failed to live up to its obligations to the American taxpayer and is in breach of the statutory, regulatory, and contractual requirements tied to Harvard's federally funded research programs and intellectual property arising therefrom," he said.

CBS News noted:

He gave Harvard until Sept. 5 to respond and prove it's complying with the Bayh-Dole Act. Under that legislation, universities receiving federal research grants have to show that inventions issuing from that funding are being used to benefit Americans.

Harvard's not happy

A spokesperson for Harvard released a statement regarding the Trump administration's potential move.

"Technologies and patents developed at Harvard are life-saving and industry-redefining," a university spokesperson said.

They added, "We are fully committed to complying with the Bayh-Dole Act and ensuring that the public is able to access and benefit from the many innovations that arise out of federally funded research at Harvard."

It'll be fascinating to see if the Trump administration moves forward on the threat.