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Dear Sir or Madam,
Re: Unauthorised disclosure of confidential information
On you were given certain confidential information relating to: (the Confidential Information).
The Confidential Information was given to you for the purposes of . It was given to you on the basis that it should remain confidential in accordance with the confidentiality provisions of an Agreement dated between (1) and (2) .
It has come to our attention that you have without our consent used or disclosed some or all of the Confidential Information as follows: . This is unacceptable to us and constitutes a breach of the Agreement referred to above.
As our consent to disclose the Confidential Information in this manner was neither sought nor granted we require that you immediately:
We expect your acknowledgement of this letter and your response to our requests by . Failure to respond by this date will result in us seeking further legal remedies.
Yours sincerely,
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This Cease and Desist Letter template covers:
the IP rights that you own, with a choice of:
a copyright
a trade mark
a patent
a design right, or
confidential information
details of the infringement that has occurred
the remedies (ie solutions) that you want the recipient to agree to, including:
a request that they cease the infringing action (eg stop using your trade mark)
a request that they deliver to you to destroy all infringing materials (eg products that copy your design)
an offer to sell them a licence to legally use your IP
a threat that you will pursue further legal action if the recipient does not agree to your requests
You should create a Cease and Desist Letter if somebody is infringing your IP rights and you want to stop them. Carefully written Cease and Desist Letters can be powerful tools in the enforcement of intellectual property rights. They often successfully stop an infringement of IP rights and prevent the matter from needing to go through the courts - saving lots of time and money.
Making a Cease and Desist Letter to take the important first step towards stopping infringement of your IP rights - whether the matter is ultimately resolved in or out of court.
Receiving a professional and succinct Cease and Desist Letter is often enough to stop somebody from infringing on your intellectual property rights. If not, and you decide to go to court, the Letter can provide proof that you tried to resolve the situation before resorting to litigation.
Even if your Letter’s recipient does not agree to your requests, sending a Cease and Desist Letter is an important step in your dispute resolution process. The Letter can provide evidence that you’ve tried to resolve the matter before going to court. It shows that you’ve given the infringer a chance to negotiate and that they’re aware of the infringement. This helps proceedings as the court will expect you to have attempted to settle the matter before commencing litigation. For more information, read Remedies for intellectual property infringement.
IP rights are somebody’s rights to prevent others using, in a manner not authorised by them, intangible assets (eg artworks, inventions, or designs) that they’ve created or acquired ownership of. If somebody uses your IP in a way that you have not permitted, they are likely infringing on your IP rights. What exactly constitutes infringement depends on which type of IP right is in question. Exceptions will sometimes apply, for example, if somebody uses your copyrighted work for criticism or non-commercial research. For information about infringement of different kinds of IP rights, read How to avoid trade mark infringement, How to avoid copyright infringement and Intellectual property.
Providing the recipient with a deadline for responding to your Letter or for carrying out or agreeing to the requests you’ve made gives more weight to your Letter. It can compel the recipient to act quickly.
You should always provide a deadline that is reasonable. What is reasonable depends on the circumstances of your individual case, for example, the complexity of the infringement, evidence, and the tasks you’re asking the infringer to complete. For straightforward situations, 14 days is usually a reasonable timeframe to request a response within. It may be reasonable to provide longer if, for example, you’re asking the recipient to provide lots of confidential information to you or if the evidence of their breach of your IP rights is less clear-cut (eg their products are similar to yours, rather than being exact copies). In some situations, it may be reasonable to provide a shorter deadline, for example, in industries in which time is of the essence and you need to prevent someone from using your IP as soon as possible to prevent damage to your brand.
Within the timeframe specified in the Letter, the recipient should stop any infringing behaviour and should when possible undertake the actions that you’ve requested. These include:
for copyright infringement - crediting the copyright holder in the infringing work or or paying the copyright holder a fee for use of the work
for trade mark infringement - delivering for destruction all materials that use the trade mark and withdrawing any application that’s been made for the registration of the trade mark
for design and patent infringement - trying to recover all stocks of infringing items from purchasers and delivering them up for destruction
for confidential information - delivering any material the recipient holds or controls that contains the confidential information
Making your Cease and Desist Letter online is simple. Just answer a few questions and Rocket Lawyer will build your document for you. When you have all the information about the IP infringement prepared in advance, creating your document is a quick and easy process.
You’ll need the following information:
Party details
Your details (including - if applicable - your business’ legal structure and your address).
The infringer’s/recipient’s details (including their business’ legal structure - if applicable - and their address).
Information about the IP infringement
What type of IP right has been infringed?
If the Letter regards copyright infringement:
What type of work does the infringement concern (eg literary or musical)?
What is the copyrighted work called?
Who created it and when?
Was the work created by an employee of your business during their employment?
How was the work infringed (ie was it copied to create a new work, or replicated and distributed without permission)?
If it’s been copied, is the new work identical or very similar?
What’s the new (ie copied) work called?
What do you want the infringer to do?
If the Letter regards infringement of a trade mark:
What’s the trade mark’s name?
What is the trade mark owner’s name?
If it’s registered, what is its registration number?
If it’s unregistered, where has it been used (eg Scotland or England) and for how long?
What’s the name of the infringing trade mark (ie the mark being used that is overly similar or identical to yours)?
If the Letter regards infringement of a registered design:
What is the design’s name
What is the design’s owner’s name?
What is its registration number?
How is the recipient infringing your design right (eg by creating products with an extremely similar design)?
Will you include an image of the infringing design with your Letter?
If the Letter regards infringement of patent rights:
What’s the patent’s owner’s name?
What is its patent number?
How is the recipient infringing your patent rights?
Will you include an image of the infringing patent or product with your Letter?
If the Letter regards unauthorised disclosure of confidential information:
What confidential information did you share with the recipient (ie that which the infringement regards), when, and in what form (eg paper documents or emails)?
Why did you share the confidential information (eg to discuss a joint venture)?
How has the recipient used or disclosed the information in breach of your rights?
Was there an agreement governing your sharing of the information (eg a non-disclosure agreement)? If so:
What was the agreement’s date?
Who were the parties?
Information about your correspondence
How long will you give the recipient to respond to your Letter before you take the matter further?
Cease and Desist Letters for IP infringement communicate information about the breach of IP rights that has occurred, as the vital first step towards stopping infringement. To do this, this Cease and Desist Letter template includes sections covering:
identifying the IP that has been infringed - the ‘Re:’ line at the top of the Letter clarifies exactly which piece of IP your Letter concerns. The first section of the Letter then identifies the work and when it was created, how it’s protected (eg by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988), and explains that you own the rights to this IP (ie it’s your creation, you purchased the rights to it, or an employee created it under circumstances that grant you ownership of it)
if the IP in question is an unregistered trade mark, the Letter establishes the basis on which it is protected by explaining where and for how long you have been using the mark, and by explaining that the mark has acquired substantial reputation and goodwill for your brand. This would lead to an action for ‘passing off’ if your Cease and Desist Letter does not remedy the infringement. For more information, read Trade marks and passing off
if your Letter concerns confidential information, it explains the basis on which the information should remain confidential and refers to any agreements in which the recipient agreed to confidentiality
identifying the infringing IP - this section identifies exactly which creation of the recipient is being used in breach of your IP rights. If your Letter regards a trade mark, patent, or design right, this section refers the recipient to a schedule at the bottom of the Letter for more information on the IP in question
the breach - the Letter then explains that, as the recipient did not gain your permission to use your IP in the manner that they’re using it, they are in breach of your IP rights. It explains why their use constitutes a breach (eg because their design is so similar it gives customers the same overall impression as your design, or because they agreed to keep your information confidential). This section then outlines what you are requesting that the recipient do to remedy the situation, for example, by:
providing a written declaration that they will stop using your IP immediately
paying a fee (ie a licence fee) to use your IP
giving correct credit to the IP’s creator
delivering to you any materials of products that use your IP so that you can destroy them
withdrawing any applications to, for example, register their infringing trade mark
common law rights - common law rights are those which have arisen over time by virtue of case law (ie law created by the courts rather than by Parliament). Some IP is protected by common law rights rather than by legislation. For example, unregistered trade marks are enforced via the common law action for ‘passing off’, whereas registered trade marks are protected by action under the Trade Marks Act 1994. This Letter refers to common law rights when they are relevant to the type of IP in question
request for a response within a given timeframe - this section requests that the Letter’s recipient responds, ideally by performing or undertaking to perform the actions you’ve set out above, within a certain reasonable period of time. It sets out your intention to pursue further legal action if you do not receive a satisfactory response by the given deadline
If you want your Cease and Desist Letter to include further or more detailed provisions, you can edit your document. However, if you do this, you may want a lawyer to review the document for you (or to make the changes for you) to make sure that your modified Cease and Desist Letter complies with all relevant laws and meets your specific needs. Use Rocket Lawyer’s Ask a lawyer service for assistance.
Be sure that the recipient of your Letter is definitely in breach of your IP rights
If you send a Cease and Desist Letter to somebody alleging that they’ve breached your IP rights, you could be at risk of them bringing an action (ie a legal claim) against you for ‘making a threat of infringement proceedings’. If your Letter contains what a reasonable person in the recipient’s position would interpret as a threat that you will initiate legal proceedings for their infringement of your patent, registered trade mark, or design right, this may constitute a threat. You may be able to avoid such claims if either:
you meet the ‘permitted purpose’ exception (eg your Letter is for the purpose of making the recipient aware that your IP rights exist). Asking the recipient to stop doing something that infringes your IP or to deliver to you their property which contains your IP (as this template does) is not a permitted purpose
you’re covered by the ‘justification’ defence. This defence may be used in court if you can show that the recipient’s conduct does constitute an infringement of your relevant IP rights, or
you’re claiming for a type of IP right that is not covered by this type of claim (eg unregistered trade marks or copyright). Be aware, however, that similar common law claims may apply for threats regarding these types of IP
Consider the justification defence
The justification defence is a key method of avoiding these claims (or successfully fighting them in court). To make sure you can use this defence if needed when creating a Cease and Desist Letter, you should always:
make sure your IP right(s) that the Letter is about are valid. Make sure they’re correctly registered (if they need to be so) and ensure they haven’t expired
make sure that the recipient’s conduct does infringe on your rights. For example:
make sure the products they’re making are similar enough to your design or trade mark to constitute infringement
thoroughly investigate to make sure they don’t have any possible prior rights to your IP (eg if you and the recipient have made coinciding applications to register the same trade mark)
This can be a complex and risky area of law. If you’re not entirely confident that, for example, your Letter’s recipient is definitely in breach of your IP rights, you should Ask a lawyer for advice. For more information on unjustified threats of infringement proceedings, read the Government’s guidance.
Protect your IP
Although lots of IP is protected without your needing to do anything (eg unregistered trade marks), it can be prudent to take steps to give your IP rights greater protection to reduce the chance of infringements happening in the future. For example, you could register your trade marks in the UK or, if relevant, in the EU. Registering your IP makes it easier for others to identify your IP rights (eg by searching databases, like the trade mark register) so that they can avoid infringing them. It also makes it easier for you to bring legal action to protect your IP if you need to in the future. For more information, read Remedies for intellectual property right infringement.
Consider other options for resolution
If somebody is using your IP without permission, you may want to bring legal action against them. However, it can sometimes be more commercially prudent to agree on other arrangements. For example, you could negotiate a Licence agreement with the infringer, whereby they are allowed to use your IP in exchange for a fee. For more information, read Intellectual property licensing and Reaching an agreement (intellectual property infringement).
Understand when to seek advice from a lawyer
In some circumstances, it’s good practice to Ask a lawyer for advice to ensure that you’re complying with the law and that your business is well protected from risk. You should ask for advice if:
you’re not sure which type of IP right your creation is protected by
you want a Cease and Desist Letter for another purpose (ie other than for intellectual property infringement or defamation)
you’re not completely sure that the intended recipient is infringing on your IP rights, or you’re otherwise concerned about claims for unjustified threats of IP infringement
the recipient does not respond to this Letter and you want to take the issue further
