Cease & Desist Letters for IP Infringement

What a Cease and Desist letter is

A Cease and Desist letter is a formal communication that an IP rights holder sends to a person or business suspected of infringing their right, informing them of the right, the concern about the suspected conduct, and requesting that it stop. The content and tone can vary by situation, but its core purpose is formal communication before any further step is considered.

Its practical purpose

Rights holders commonly consider a Cease and Desist letter for several practical reasons: it gives the suspected party a chance to stop without a more time-consuming and costly process, it creates a formal record that notice was given, and in some cases it opens the door to negotiation between the two parties before things escalate. That said, actual outcomes vary case by case — there's no guarantee the recipient will stop or respond as hoped.

When it may be considered

Whether to send a Cease and Desist letter should be decided case by case — there's no fixed rule that you always should or shouldn't. Factors commonly weighed include how clear the evidence is, any existing business relationship with the suspected party, the commercial impact of the situation, and the risk that the suspected party might prepare or destroy evidence if given advance notice. In some situations, sending a letter first may not be the right approach.

What to check before sending

Before considering a Cease and Desist letter, check carefully:

• Scope of the right: is the right you're relying on still in force, and does its scope of protection actually cover what you've found?
• Ownership: does the sender own the right, or otherwise have authority to act on the owner's behalf?
• Evidence on hand: is there sufficient evidence to support the claims in the letter? See Evidence Preservation for IP Disputes for a full checklist.
• The correct recipient: correctly identify the suspected party and their appropriate contact details.

Sending a letter before carefully checking the above can create legal risk if the claims turn out to be incorrect.

Commercial considerations

Beyond the legal questions, weigh the business impact too: is the suspected party a business partner or otherwise has an existing relationship with you? How might sending a letter affect that relationship? And how might your business reputation be affected if the situation becomes widely known? These factors carry different weight in different cases.

What a Cease and Desist letter is not

Important limits to keep clearly in mind:

• Not mandatory in every case: the law does not require sending a Cease and Desist letter before every other step.
• Not a court order: it has no legal force on its own. The recipient has no legal obligation to comply.
• Not proof of infringement: sending one does not mean infringement actually occurred — it only conveys the sender's concern.
• No guaranteed outcome: there's no guarantee sending one will resolve the dispute. The recipient may ignore it, dispute it, or take their own legal action in response.

Why a professional should help assess and draft it

Because a Cease and Desist letter is a communication with real legal and business consequences, deciding whether to send one, when, and what it should say to fit the facts and evidence you have should be done together with an IP professional. Claims that are inaccurate or overstate the actual scope of the right can create legal risk for the sender too.

Next steps

If you haven't yet assessed your situation or finished gathering evidence, start with What to Do When Your IP Is Infringed. Once you've worked through those steps and are considering how to communicate with the suspected party, talk to our team about assessing it together.

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