Bloggers have become powerful advocates in raising awareness on legal issues in practically every industry out there. One recent example of this is that of bloggers at The Fashion Law Blog. The bloggers there wrote a post raising awareness on the seeming infringement of the Chanel Logo by Nasty Gal. Chanel caught wind of it and sent a ‘Cease and Desist’ Letter to Nasty Gal. The Fashion Law blog reports Nasty Gal has since ceased marketing and selling the t-shirts at issue, pictured above.
What is a Cease and Desist Letter?
There are several tools we trial lawyers use when we are ready to commence a lawsuit. Where the case is of a non-Intellectual Property nature, we refer to the first primary tools we use as a “Demand Letter.” This letter simply ask that a potential defendant stop what he/she is doing that is causing harm to our clients or else. . . Good “demand letters” are well thought out, pay attention to details and contain discussions on the law and liability.
When we move to to the Intellectual property realm i.e. copyright, trademark and patent law/infringement, the same letter is referred to as a ‘Cease and Desist’ letter. Needless to say, it is tailored to the law and legal issues stemming from those specific areas of the law.
Anyone can send a cease and desist letter. It does not have to be an attorney. However, if you have a legal matter and you want a cease and desist letter written, you should seek an attorney’s help. Primarily because if you threaten legal action, you really want to know what you are saying. Further, if you do not follow through on your threat, it will be hard to take you seriously in future.
Finally, if you are just joining me for the first time, you are probably wondering “what is Trademark infringement and how does that work?” For my discussions on Trademark law and infringment, click here.
Visit The Fashion Law blog for the Chanel v. Nasty Gal story.
-Uduak
Twitter: @uduaklaw
Photocredit: The Fashion Law Blog
