Introduction
A cease and desist notice is a document sent to an individual or business to avoid, and not resume, the allegedly illegal activity ("cease"). The notice will warn that this party may be sued if the receiver continues stated conduct or takes certain acts by the deadlines set in the notice.
If issued by a public authority, a notice to cease and desist is most commonly referred to as a notice of imminent judicial action.
Usage of Notice
The cease and desist notices are not exclusively used in the area of intellectual property, particularly in regards to copyright infringement. Such notices are frequently utilised in disputes concerning intellectual property.
The intellectual property right holder, such as a copyrighted work, a patent or a trademark may send the cease and desist notice to inform the third party of the right holder's rights, identity, and intentions to enforce the rights. The notice may contain merely a licensing request or maybe an explicit threat to a lawsuit.
Therefore, a notice of termination and withdrawal submitted before launching a complaint helps to avoid this remedy being taken by the infringer. In the event of persistent non-compliance, it further helps to assess the infringing party's malaise in the case of infringing litigation.
Consequences of Notice
The consequences of issuing an infringement notice by intellectual property right holders to infringer can help in
- Establishing the IP holder's rights in his IP
- Serving notice to the infringer to protect his rights
- Serving notice to the infringer about his demands
- To take stringent courses of legal action in case of non- compliance with his demands, which may involve a lawsuit
- Allows to attempt to educate the infringer about the law, as well as the IP holder's rights, allowing the infringer to cease all infringing activities without unnecessarily escalating the matter
- To protect his rights against the same infringer in future
- To set as a precedent of the IP holder enforcing his rights
