Free Trademark Violation Letter

1. Sign the letter.

2. Keep a copy of the letter for your records

3. If appropriate, remember to enclose copies of the Owner's mark, the owner's registration certificate, and the Violator's mark.

The owner of rights to a trademark or service mark (the "Owner") has an obligation to police those rights by stopping later users ("Violators") from using a confusingly similar mark. If such use by Violators is not stopped, the exclusive rights to the mark established by the Owner can become diluted or weakened, making future enforcement by the Owner more difficult. In extreme cases where a Violator's use is knowingly ignored, the Owner's rights can become completely lost and the mark may become unenforceable or it may become generic, that is, become part of the public domain. Of course, if a Violator is a direct competitor of the Owner and the Violator's use of the mark creates confusion in the marketplace, which results in loss of business to the Owner, the Owner will definitely want to take steps to stop such unauthorized use.

The Trademark Violation Letter provides a template letter for an Owner to use to notify a Violator that the Violator is violating the Owner's trademark rights. This letter is not a necessary prerequisite to legal enforcement of exclusive rights to a mark. However, a Violator will sometimes adopt the mark without knowledge of the Owner's prior use and rights, and when the Violator is notified of the Owner's prior rights, the Violator may voluntarily discontinue its use of the confusingly similar name or mark. If so, the use of the Trademark Violation Letter has quickly accomplished the desired result without the expense of legal proceedings. If the letter does not produce satisfactory results, the Owner should promptly seek the assistance of an attorney.