Avoid Becoming a Trademark Bully: The Art of Writing Cease and Desist Letters

摘要

Cease and desist letters remain an essential tool to cost-effectively resolve issues and avoid litigation. However, they are only a tool if used appropriately. Gone are the days when an attorney can ever so slightly modify an existing boilerplate letter and send it to a potential infringer. If the goal is truly to resolve the matter and minimize the risk of negative publicity (and it should be), the claim for infringement must be extensively and objectively investigated, in order to customize the letter to the issue at hand and present a well-reasoned position to the purported infringer, without overzealous posturing and passive-aggressive threats.