Assuming that the business relationship has presently terminated, there are a number of issues here but the first question to ask is was there a contract governing their use of your trade marks?
When did the business partner begin to use the trade mark, was it before you registered the trade marks or after? The reason you have to ask these questions is to determine if he has common law rights in the trade marks? If you hold a registered trade mark, did you obtain this prior to your business relationship, or during your business relationship? Who came up with the trade mark? Is there anything that could cause him to reasonably claim that he was a co-owner of the mark before its registration? If there is a contract, what does that stipulate about use of the trade mark once the relationship comes to an end. Even if you do not have a contract that addresses post-termination sales, you may still have legal recourse against your former distributor under certain circumstances, and their use of the mark may constitute trademark infringement if you can demonstrate that such sales are likely to cause confusion among the consuming public as to the origin of the goods. Infringement issues
