The Technion Israel Institute of Technology has pressed charges against one of its senior professors, allegedly for creating a zero-knowledge proof tech, using the researches and studies he made while working for the school.

According to the Israeli daily business newspaper Calcalist, the Haifa District Court has received a legal suit against Prof. Eli Ben-Sasson – the senior lecturing staff at The Technion – for not complying with the school’s intellectual property regulation. Eli – together with one of the doctoral students at Technion – have reportedly established a start-up called Starkware. The Technion believed Eli has built the firm upon the knowledge obtained while working at the institution.

Starkware is a Blockchain-based software and hardware development firm, which commercialises a zero-knowledge proof system in order to enhance Blockchain scalability and privacy. Eli has utilized a big number of shekels given by Technion to design said zero-knowledge tool.

As stated in the lawsuit, Technion accused Eli of using Technion resources without its approval for personal endeavors to make financial gains, and has dismissed Technion rights to its intellectual property by setting up a company utilizing the tech. Technion also demanded 50% worth of Starkware shares sent to the institution.

However, Eli has denied these accusations, as he claimed that he “did not use or intend to use an invention belonging to the Technion. The company has raised millions of dollars and has recruited workers to develop the software and intellectual property it needs.”