How to Draft a Trademark Cease and Desist Letter That Works

50 questions on how to draft a trademark cease and desist letter that works, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Can a trademark owner end up paying the recipient's attorney's fees?
• Does Romag v. Fossil mean you can always demand the infringer's profits?
• Do you have to send a cease-and-desist letter before suing for trademark infringement?
• How can a cease-and-desist letter get you sued?
• How can overstating your rights in a C&D backfire?
• How can you lower declaratory judgment risk when sending a C&D?
• How did the Trademark Modernization Act change injunctive relief?
• How does geography limit trademark enforcement reach?
• How does the first-to-file rule interact with a cease-and-desist letter?
• How does trademark strength affect how aggressively you should write?
• How do you check whether you actually have priority over the recipient?
• How do you enforce a trademark hard without becoming the villain?
• How long a deadline should a C&D give?
• How should a C&D describe the sender's rights?
• How should tone be calibrated in a cease-and-desist letter?
• How should you define what "winning" means before drafting?
• How specifically should a C&D describe the infringing use?
• Is it ethical to threaten litigation you do not intend to bring?
• Must a court hear a declaratory judgment action?
• Should a C&D be marked "for settlement purposes only" under Rule 408?
• Should you assume your cease-and-desist letter will be published?
• What benefits does a well-drafted cease-and-desist letter deliver?
• What defenses should you anticipate before sending a trademark C&D?
• What demands belong in a trademark cease-and-desist letter?
• What does a weak trademark claim look like?
• What does a well-judged trademark C&D look like in practice?
• What factors recur across all the likelihood-of-confusion tests?
• What is an example of a C&D that is an own goal?
• What is a reservation of rights clause, and why include one?
• What is a trademark cease-and-desist letter, and what can it not do?
• What is likelihood of confusion, and how do courts measure it?
• What is the MedImmune standard for declaratory judgment jurisdiction?
• What is the risk of copying third parties on a C&D?
• What is the single most important principle in trademark C&D practice?
• What is the Streisand effect in trademark enforcement?
• What is trademark bullying?
• What records should you keep after sending a cease-and-desist letter?
• What remedies does the Lanham Act actually authorize?
• What settlement structures resolve trademark disputes?
• What should you do if the recipient complies with your C&D?
• What should you do if the recipient denies your claim?
• What should you verify about your registration before citing it in a letter?
• What special situations call for something other than a standard C&D?
• What statutes should a trademark C&D cite?
• When is it smarter to sue first rather than send a letter?
• When should a C&D assert trademark dilution?
• When should you use a platform takedown instead of a letter?
• Who should the letter be addressed to, and how should it be sent?
• Why is auditing your own rights the first step before sending a C&D?
• Why is the consequences paragraph the most delicate part of a C&D?