A Cease and Desist Letter Written With Honey, Not Vinegar

Over the course of my practice, I have often had clients come to me after receiving a cease and desist letter.  Usually, the cease and desist letter, written by an attorney trained by or from one of the "Big Firms," promises hellfire and damnation to my client unless it immediately acquiesces to their client's laundry list of demands.  The demands are lengthy, and often include requiring my clients their first and second born.  I am not a big fan of these types of letters, in firing off cease and desist letters indiscriminately, or such intellectual policing tactics.  Unfortunately, sometimes such tactics are necessary when the other side is simply unreasonable and uncooperative.

As I often counsel my clients when they want me to send a cease and desist for them, it is usually better to try the nice approach first rather than immediately going for the mean approach.  In fact, I often try to get the client to agree to ending the cease and desist letter with an offer to have a dialogue about the issues raised in the letter in the hopes of avoiding having to litigate.  Other times, I try to get the client to think of ways to turn the issue into a "win-win," for my client and the other party. For many small business (and some medium businesses), litigation is bad business--well, except for us litigation attorneys who usually will get paid regardless of result. 

So, when I ran across this article about the attorney for Jack Daniels sending a cease and desist letter to author Patrick Wensick over his book cover art, I was impressed.  I disagree with the article saying that such a letter is "unlawyerly," since the letter gets across the conundrum that every intellectual property owner faces:  if you do not protect it, you can lose it.  Apparently, Mr. Wensick was impressed with the letter because he posted it on his website.  I am sure that Jack Daniels did not expect, but does welcome the free good publicity.  Moreover, as an intellectual property owner himself, Mr. Wensick clearly understands the issues and does not need a nasty letter telling him that he going straight to hell for infringing on Jack Daniels' label design.

Three cheers to Jack Daniels' attorney and a big thank you for reminding us that sometimes you can catch more bees with honey than with vinegar!