Cease and Desist Letter

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Cease and Desist Letter

You'll notice that a handful of search engines request that you contact trademark violators before you ask them to evaluate the matter. Of course, the search engines prefer that you handle this situation directly with your competitors and not involve them at all. And this is often possible.

A cease and desist letter from your attorney gets the immediate attention of your trademark violators. The letter identifies the issue and the solution needed to avoid the next step ‚ a lawsuit.

Deborah Wilcox, a partner with the Cleveland office of the law firm of Baker & Hostetler LLP, says that 90% of this type of trademark infringement is stopped by having legal counsel send a cease and desist letter and follow up as necessary to resolve the matter short of litigation. Wilcox has offered the following letter as an example (its impact is arguably stronger when it comes from a law firm if you don't have a well-recognized company name with an internal legal department). Just as with a click fraud cease and desist letter described in Chapter 21, "Watch Out for Click Fraud," send a trademark violation letter by email and certified mail. Remember to customize this sample letter with your information.

Deborah ‚  A. ‚  Wilcox
Phone ‚  Number: ‚  (216) ‚  861-7864
Email: ‚  dwilcox@bakerlaw.com

Date

Name
Address

Re: ‚  Violation ‚  of ‚  Trademark ‚  Rights

Dear Sir or Madam:

Baker & Hostetler LLP represents Company with respect to, among other matters, the enforcement of its intellectual property rights. [Describe Company's Trademark rights.]

It has recently come to our attention that your company is using the Company Trademark to lead consumers to your competing web site. Your purchase of the Company Trademark as a search engine keyword is a blatant attempt to "spam" the search engine into bringing up your web site when the Company Trademark is entered in a search. You have no rights in the Company Trademark and such unauthorized activity constitutes trademark infringement, false advertising, dilution of the Company mark, and unfair competition, among other things, in violation of the federal Lanham Act and state laws.

In addition to seeking injunctive relief prohibiting your further infringing actions pursuant to 15 U.S.C. ‚ § 1117, our client may seek damages and attorney's fees. The amount of these monetary damages may be tripled by the court pursuant to the same section of the United States Code.

On behalf of our client, we therefore demand that your company immediately and permanently cease any and all uses of the Company Trademark, including the purchase of the Trademark as a keyword. We also demand that you immediately notify all search engines to cease linking the web sites operated by your company with the Company Trademark. We likewise will send copies of this letter to the relevant search engines. You must immediately provide written confirmation of your compliance with our demands.

We trust that you will understand the concern of our client about the infringement of its rights and that you will fully cooperate with us. You must direct your written response to my attention by no later than [date] to avoid the necessity of our taking further legal action.

This letter is written without prejudice to any of our client's legal rights or remedies, all of which are hereby expressly reserved.

Very ‚  truly ‚  yours,
Deborah ‚  A. ‚  Wilcox

cc: ‚  Search ‚  Engines


Attach a copy of this letter to your complaint for the search engines; they may respond faster seeing that you're attempting to resolve the matter directly with the trademark violators. Sending a cease and desist letter directly to the violators hopefully prevents future occurrences, whereas going to a search engine first might address current listings but new ad listings posted by the same violator could slip by in the future.

It's a good idea to send a strong message to search engines and competitors by issuing trademark infringement complaints and legal letters in one directive. Periodic monitoring of the search engine space is strongly recommended. Companies such as Cyveillance and NameProtect can help monitor the use of your trademarks across the web if this is a tedious , ongoing battle for your company.

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Search Engine Advertising. Buying Your Way to the Top to Increase Sales
Search Engine Advertising: Buying Your Way to the Top to Increase Sales (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 0321495993
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 155

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