Write your Cease and Desist Letter in a concise and professional manner. Describe your grievances and explain what the other party can do to correct the action. Stick to the relevant details only. Leave out any information that is not absolutely necessary, such as foul language, bias, or petty commentary, and simply present the facts.
You can easily create a Cease and Desist Letter by filling out LawDepot's questionnaire. Using our template will ensure you complete the necessary steps:
1. Select the letter type
Our Cease and Desist Letter template lets you create four types of letters.
General letter
General letter can be used to demand that an individual or organization stop an action or behavior, such as:
- Defamation
- Harassment
- Stalking
- Property, boundary, and neighborhood disputes
Defamation is an untrue statement of fact that hurts a person or company's character or reputation.
LawDepot’s Cease and Desist Letter template lets you notify the recipient of your intention to record telephone conversations and keep a log of any contact with them after they receive the letter. You can also inform the recipient that you intend to file a lawsuit if they don’t meet your demands.
According to federal law, it’s legal to record a telephone conversation in the U.S. as long as one of the conversation’s participants knows the call is being recorded. However, the following states require all parties in a telephone conversation to consent to a recording:
Debt collection letter
Debt collectors will sometimes use aggressive practices, such as threatening language or constant calls at odd hours, with debtors. You can use a debt collection letter to stop debt collectors from inappropriately harassing you.
In a Cease and Desist Letter, you can request that debt collectors only contact you through your legal advisor or in writing, if you believe they’re harassing you. You can also specify that you don’t want them to contact you at your place of employment and you plan to file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, if they don’t comply with your demands.
Copyright infringement letter
Copyright infringement is when someone reproduces, plagiarizes, performs, or publicly displays your copyrighted work without your authorization. You can use a copyright infringement letter to demand that an individual or organization stop infringing on your intellectual rights.
Your Cease and Desist Letter should include the name of your original work, when and where you published it, and the infringing work's title. It also helps to provide examples of when your work was directly copied or unfairly used.
A copyright holder has exclusive rights to:
- Produce and sell copies of the original work
- Create derivative works (works based on the original)
- Display or perform the work publicly
- Sell or assign the above rights to others
Copyrights in the United States generally last the creator's lifetime plus 70 years.
Trademark infringement letter
A trademark is an intellectual property like a logo, phrase, symbol, or word that you register and own the exclusive rights to use. Trademark infringement is when a person or company uses your trademarked work without authorization.
Your Cease and Desist letter should state your trademark’s name and where the infringement occurred. Include the trademark registration number if the work is registered. Otherwise, give the year you first used the trademark.
Providing as many examples of trademark infringement in your letter as you can help the recipient understand their error and quickly correct the issue.
Provide the personal information for both you and the recipient, including:
- Name
- The type of party (an individual or company)
- The city, state, and address
- ZIP Code
3. Date your letter
Dating your Cease and Desist Letter reduces the chance of confusion regarding the dispute's timeline of events. Select the “unsure” option in the questionnaire if you don’t currently know when you’ll date the letter.
