A Mahopac business that makes mobile golf simulation equipment has been sued for allegedly copycatting another company’s technology.
Dryvebox Inc., of San Francisco, accused Golf on Wheels Inc. of patent infringement, in a complaint filed on Oct. 2 in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
Golf on Wheels and its sister business, Golf on 6 Corp., “misappropriated the results of Dryvebox’s skill, expenditures and labors,” the complaint states, “for the purpose of competing with Dryvebox.”
Simulators enable golfers to practice their swings regardless of weather or time of day. Sensors, high speed cameras, projectors and screens measure how a golf ball is struck and track the shot as if it is being played on a driving range or golf course.
Dryvebox and Golf on Wheels simulators are mounted on flatbed trucks and taken to events, such as corporate gatherings and private parties.
Dryvebox, founded in 2020, has developed six patents.
In January 2024, Jerry DelBene, who runs Golf on 6, an indoor golf simulation business in Mahopac, applied for a Dryvebox franchise, according to the complaint. Dryvebox gave him access to information about the patents, as well as detailed photographs of the interiors and exteriors of its mobile simulators.
On June 3, 2024, DelBene allegedly communicated in an email, “There still alot of questions and reservations my partners have. … So I think we are going to have to pass.”
Seven weeks later, July 24, 2024, Golf on Wheels Inc. was formed, using 250 Route 6, Mahopac, the same address as Golf on 6, as its principal place of business.
Golf on Wheels’ mobile golf simulator copies Dryvebox’s features and appearance, the complaint states, and its website mimics Dryvebox’s website, including text, fonts, colors and imagery.
For example, both websites proclaim “state-of-the-art mobile golf simulator that brings the game to you,” and simulators “designed to be an inviting space for … new golfers and golf fanatics.”
Dryvebox alleges that Golf on Wheels and Golf on 6 collected, analyzed and replicated details about its technology “while purportedly seeking a Dryvebox franchise.”
Dryvebox accused the Mahopac businesses of patent infringements, willful infringement, and unfair competition that is likely to cause confusion in the marketplace.
It is seeking a court order to stop Golf on Wheels and Golf on 6 from making, using or selling copycat simulators, and is asking for unspecified monetary damages.
An email asking for the defendants’ responses to the allegations was returned as undeliverable.
