As a review, a trademark can be anything from a phrase, symbol, word, or even a combination of those. It is used to distinguish one brand from another and to represent the goods and services that are being offered by that company.
It’s easier now to find similar trademarks to yours, may it have striking similarities or not because of the presence of the internet. There are cases where companies have filed a dispute against other companies because of trademark infringement claims.
There are a lot of disputes that can come out of this and one of them is receiving a cease and desist letter regarding trademark infringement. This is a challenging matter to handle but it can be best done so with the help of having a knowledge of what you are actually going through.
What is a Cease and Desist Letter?
In a brief explanation, cease and desist later basically contains a claim of a person or another company telling you that you have been infringing their trademark and you need to stop doing so before they sue you.
This kind of letter is considered to be a really serious one that needs to be properly handled. It can be considered as the first step towards litigation and court hearings. This is why it is best to solve this before everything goes out of hand.
Steps to Take to Deal with a Cease and Desist Letter
Consult a lawyer
It is always best to handle legal matters that come to you with the help of a lawyer. You may be knowledgeable about the law in your country or you probably like reading a whole lot of papers about the rules and regulations with regard to trademark infringement but it important that you have someone experienced in the field to give you advice on how to best deal with it.
It is advisable that you do not respond to the letter without any opinion from a lawyer with regard to the letter. A good lawyer can review the letter for you and the company itself to see if they have good grounds and how strong their claim is. With this, an appropriate response to the matter at hand is possible to be constructed. The same firm that offered you the trademark registration services for your trademark might also help you in finding a good lawyer to assist you with this. Sometimes, firms that offer services on trademark registration in Dubai also have lawyers to help you in cases like this one.
Respond accordingly
The letter may or may not be a simple way to intimidate you so you would stop using your trademark and find a new one. This is why an attorney on your side is an important factor for you to consider as they can read into it and even do research on more evidence that supports the claim of the sender.
A good lawyer will always know how to handle different kinds of legal matters. That is why their help is needed by you. Since not responding to this letter can get you into a more serious trouble, they’ll know exactly how to respond that will not put you at a risk.
The information that they can dig out of this situation can help both of you how to best approach your predicament.
Attempt for negotiation and settlement
If advised by your lawyer, you can try for negotiation or settlement. Either you are indeed infringing or not, you can opt to choose this option. With this approach, both parties can discuss evidence and proof of infringement and what both of you can do to agree on this matter.
When you do a settlement, this can mean you will try to have the other party to go through arbitration or mediation with you. This is better than going to trial and waiting for a really long time to settle things.
Go to trial
This is the final step to defend yourself. If all else fails above, it’s time for you to be prepared for a long battle in court. Having a good lawyer with you is advisable for you at this time. This lawyer will represent you and your case in court. A good one will ensure that you will have the best settlement and win the case.
Trademark Registration Services in Dubai
FAR Consulting Middle East is one of the top firms that offer trademark registration in Dubai and in every Emirate of the UAE. With our experience of more than 30 years, we simply give the best quality service that you need. Contact us and book a consultation today for you to find out how we handle things with excellence.
