A dispute between the owners of a Philadelphia shopping mall and a company looking to open a medical marijuana dispensary should not be remanded to state court, a federal judge has ruled, saying the fight “tee[s] up a fundamental clash between state and federal law.”

U.S. District Judge Gene Pratter of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Wednesday ruled that the case, PharmaCann Penn v. BV Development Superstition RR, should stay in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, even though it had initially been filed in state court. The suit seeks court approval to open a cannabis dispensary in the Franklin Mills mall, despite language in the deed barring any stores from using the property for an “unlawful” purpose.