A cease and desist
letter is a letter that a rights owner or her attorney sends to someone who is
allegedly infringing the rights owner’s copyright, trademark, or other
intellectual property asset. In the letter, the rights owner explains how your actions
are violating her rights and demands that you stop such activities.
usually carry the threat of additional legal action, usually a lawsuit, if the
activity does not stop. Sometimes, the rights owner means business and has the
intention and the resources to follow through with a lawsuit if you fail to
comply. However, other cease and desist letters are the equivalent of the
rights owner huffing and puffing with no real power to blow your house down.
The rights owner may have a weak or no valid legal argument against your
activities and hopes that the cease and desist letter will scare you into
compliance. In effect, the rights owner
is just bluffing. Sometimes the
recipient calls the bluff. A cease and
desist letter too strongly worded can backfire as bad publicity for the sender.