My Business Partner Decided To Jump Ship. Now Wants Me To Pay A Fee To Keep All The Parts Of The Business They Worked On.
For context, nothing in this business has been trademarked. There’s no written or verbal agreements anywhere either. The business started with my idea alone, as a side gig with the intention of becoming something more.
My former partner wasn’t putting in the same amount of effort as I was, and decided to jump ship when I called him out on it. He had the business degree and all the experience that came with it. He created the logo, branding, and menu for the company, and wants me to fork over $6,000 USD to him to keep the rights to the company, which again, wouldn’t exist if not for my product. I will not be paying him a single penny.
Since we were in early stages and thought friends didn’t need documented agreements, this split is rather messy. Who has the rights to the business, the logo and the branding? With literally nothing trademarked, what can he realistically do to prevent me from using the logo anyways? And can he actually charge me $6,000 like that?
I’ll be securing the LLC tomorrow. Just need to know what else needs to be done to avoid legal issues wherever possible. I’ll create a new logo, branding, and menu if necessary.
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