What is a cease and desist letter?
A cease and desist (or demand) letter is correspondence that states or suggests that you are potentially infringing the trademark of another and demands that you stop using, or consider stopping use of, the accused mark. You should treat any such letter seriously. Before deciding how to proceed, consider your options as described below.
What are my options?
What is trademark infringement?
Trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark on or in
connection with goods and/or services in a manner that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of the goods and/or services.
What is a trademark?
A trademark is generally a word, phrase, symbol, or design, or a combination of these
elements, that identifies and distinguishes the source of one party’s goods from those of others. A service mark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than goods. The terms “trademark” or “mark” are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and service marks. Although federal registration of a mark is not mandatory, it has several advantages, including notice to the public of the registrant’s claim of ownership of the mark, a legal presumption of ownership nationwide, and the exclusive right to use the mark on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the registration.
Indiana Intellectual Property Law News