A cease and desist letter is a formal demand from a solicitor that the recipient stop using your trademark and confirm in writing that they will not use it again.
A letter you write yourself, or one drafted by an automated platform, is treated as a complaint. A letter on solicitor letterhead is treated as a credible threat of litigation.
An SRA-regulated solicitor will not put their letterhead behind a baseless claim. The recipient and their legal advisor know this.
If you ignore us, the next step is an application to the IPEC (Intellectual Property Enterprise Court) for an injunction. Most infringers comply at the letter stage to avoid that.
If court action does follow, the cease and desist letter is the foundation. Refusal to comply strengthens your position on costs and on indemnity-basis damages.
Particularly Amazon sellers, dropshippers, and small competitors. The cost of fighting outweighs the cost of switching to a different name or product.
1. Threats provision. Under section 21 of the Trade Marks Act 1994, sending an unjustified threat of infringement proceedings can itself be actionable against you. A solicitor draft avoids this exposure.
2. Privilege. Correspondence with us is covered by legal professional privilege. Correspondence you draft yourself is not, and may be disclosable in any subsequent litigation.
Your trademark (or registration number), the infringing use (URL, photo, screenshot), and any prior contact you have had with the infringer.
We confirm whether you have actionable rights, identify the strongest legal basis, and quote a fixed fee for the letter.
Sent on Western Legal Corporation Limited letterhead, copied to you, with all rights reserved.
If the infringer responds, we advise on whether to accept undertakings or escalate. If they ignore the letter, we advise on next steps including IPEC proceedings.
No. If you have used your brand in the UK and built up goodwill, the common law tort of passing off protects you. The letter can be based on registered rights (Trade Marks Act 1994 s.10), unregistered rights (passing off), or both. A registered mark makes the case faster and stronger.
Platform takedown procedures (Amazon Brand Registry, Etsy IP Reporting) are faster and cheaper than a cease and desist letter for one-off listings. But repeat infringers and sellers with their own websites need a solicitor letter. We advise on the right route case by case.
UK trademark rights are territorial - they only protect against use in the UK. If the overseas infringer is selling into the UK (shipping to UK addresses, UK domain, UK-targeted advertising), the letter still works. If they only operate abroad, you need rights in that territory.
The standard next step is an application to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) for an injunction. IPEC is a specialist court designed for smaller IP disputes, with capped costs and capped damages (£50,000 maximum for damages, £60,000 cap for costs in the small claims track). We advise on whether IPEC, the High Court, or further negotiation is the right next step.
Yes, but it is rarely effective and exposes you to a counterclaim under s.21 Trade Marks Act 1994 if any aspect of the threat is unjustified. The s.21 exposure alone often costs more than the solicitor fee for a proper letter.
Do not ignore it, and do not respond emotionally. The letter may or may not be well-founded. Email it to us with the original communication and any facts about your use of the brand. Free assessment within 24 hours and we tell you whether to comply, negotiate, or push back.
Fixed fee, quoted on the facts after the free 24-hour review. The fee depends on whether the letter is based on registered rights only (faster) or includes passing off (more evidence work). Western Legal is not VAT-registered.