Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Recipe

I doubt it. Never sign anything for anybody, ever, unless you are given at least 24 hours to review the document.

Re: Recipe

Whether it was an oral or written contract, she might have an actionable cause if you being the original author was a material part of the contract and you were not. Do not sign any document you do not read or understand.

Re: Recipe

Please clarify: what are the terms of your sale?

*How much money did you sell the recipe for?

*What was your understanding of the rights that were conferred? Meaning, did you sell the recipe outright(a total assignment of rights or an exclusive license) or just the right to use it (a non-exclusive license)? *Were any royalties for future profits discussed?

*If the agreement is in writing, please specify other important terms contained in the agreement. Important terms may include your representations as to what exactly you were selling, any warranties that it is an original recipe, any rights to rescind the contract or guidelines as to what would constitute breach of contract, and any remedies for breach of contract.

Of course, DO NOT sign any document she hands you - not without reading it - and unless you are SURE you understand everything it says, not without showing it to a lawyer first.

One last thing - did your former employer say why "she thinks" you are not the original author? Does she site to a similar or same recipe?

You can resubmit your query with the additional information.

Re: Recipe

She can "come after you" for the money in the sense that she could file a lawsuit - presumably for less than $7,500, and hence in Small Claims - but I'd say she would probably lose.

Your main problem in defending any suit would arise if you represented that you were the author/inventor of the recipe and that were untrue and you knew it was untrue. If, however, you thought you had come up with the recipe on your own, but she has found some identical or nearly identical recipe in some obscure cookbook, she still loses, because with so many cooks and so many cookbooks in the world, many cooks who think they are the first with a recipe probably aren't....and lack of knowledge that someone else published the recipe isn't going to be considered fraud that would un-do the validity of the contract.

Of course, you're not going to sign anything, and if she defames your food business, remember that there are legal remedies for slander and libel.