Questions & Answers
Alternative dispute resolution between the owners of a company
I have co-founded a UAQ FZ this year and I am in a dispute with my co-founder.
We had several discussions on discontinuing the partnership after our license expires. I had an uneven share of responsibilities and have voiced this for a while, even to our advisor during mediation sessions.
We built our community, social media, and email database together. I said we should leave with the partners we brought in and go our separate ways once our license expired. All costs for the business have been paid equally.
With few months left of our license, my partner blocked me from my email and access to our database. The domain and email are in his name, and he is holding these as a hostage even though I am 49% owner.
I understand he is 51% owner and manager, but does he has the right to do this and hold the company domain and email under his account?
He is abusing his role as a manager and domain owner, and I wanted to know what my legal rights are here as co-owner.
Please approach the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for disputes pertaining to a domain name:
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/dndr-2012-02-25-en
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center is a neutral, international and non-profit dispute resolution provider that offers time- and cost-efficient alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options.
WIPO mediation, arbitration, expedited arbitration, and expert determination enable private parties to efficiently settle their domestic or cross-border IP and technology disputes out of court.
I can help you with legal representation before WIPO.
