A Yale University grad student is suing his best friend turned foe, claiming he stole an idea for a digital golf caddy.
Clinton Grusd, 36, of Manhattan met Salman Syed, 32, of New Haven at the Ivy League institution’s business school in May 2011.
The two became “fast friends” and agreed to be 50-50 partners “in a brand new tech start-up that would revolutionize the game of golf,” according to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
Dubbed “Dolphin Golf” the technology would rely on GPS attached to golf balls and clubs to track players’ statistics and help them hone strategies.
Grusd, an Ironman triathlete, credits himself with the original idea for the device because “as an avid consumer of running, cycling, and swimming products” he realized that the popularity of other sports tracking devices would easily translate to golf.
“They began to pursue the idea with the purpose of making millions down the road,” the Manhattan Supreme Court suit says.
But then in the spring of 2012 Syed allegedly stabbed his buddy in the back, claiming he had to find a full-time job while he was actually developing Grusd’s idea under a different name– Golfkick.
“Grusd learned that Syed’s representations were false, that Syed, along with the other defendants, was engaging in a scheme to steal Dolphin Golf away from Grusd for their own benefit.”
Grusd, a former attorney with the federal Department of Justice, says Syed got funding for his new venture from a Yale advisor who is an angel investor, and the director of a university program that fosters start-ups.
Grusd called the alleged traitors’ conduct “especially egregious” as Yale “requires the highest degree of ethics from its participants.”
He wants 50 percent interest in Syed’s new venture.
Syed did not immediately respond to a message for comment.