Cease & Desist Letters, Threat Letters
and Notice of Infringement Letters - What You Need to Know
By Enrico Schaefer
A trademark or domain name threat letter is
basically what it sounds like. It's a letter or a sometimes
an email from an alleged trademark owner with a threat to
take legal action if you do not stop using their trademark
registration, domain name, etc.. A trademark is a word, symbol
or phrase used to identify a particular manufacturer or sellers
product and allow them to distinguish themselves from the
product or services of another. So what happens, usually,
is you get a letter from the trademark owner providing notice
of trademark rights and demanding that you cease and desist
use of the mark or domain name. Threat letter lawyers typically
cite the federal Lanham Act and/or Anti-Cybersquatting Protection
Act in support of the claim of a trade mark or service mark
right violation.
Don't be confused by the legal jargon. A 'cease and desit'
letter is essentially telling you that someone believes they
have legal rights against you and that if you continue your
infringing activity they will file a lawsuit against you.
The attorney will often include a trademark assignment or
domain transfer agreement with the threat letter for you to
sign. Often times the trademark threat letter is nothing more
than a standard letter that the signing attorney has sent
out many times before.
The first thing you should do if you receive a threat letter,
notice letter or cease and desist letter is to contact a domain
name dispute or trademark attorney; one who has experience
in trademark matters and cybersquatting matters. If you receive
a threat letter, try to relax and don't panic. Some of these
cease and desist letters are bogus, fraudulent or simply misstate
the law or facts. A good trademark attorney can analyze the
merits of the letter and provide recommendations.There are
any number of legal defenses which might allow you to fight
back.
Enrico Schaefer is the founding attorney of Traverse Legal,
PLC, a law firm specializing in internet and web law http://www.traverselegal.com
. You can find out more about trademarks, domain disputes
and cease and desist letters at Traverse Legal's blogs found
at http://tcattorney.typepad.com/domainnamedispute/
& http://tcattorney.typepad.com/ip/
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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