Cease Desist

/cease-desist

Two modes. Pick one:

• /ip-legal:cease-desist --send — draft a cease-and-desist letter calibrated to your enforcement posture. Loud gate runs before delivery.
• /ip-legal:cease-desist --receive — triage a C&D someone sent you. Produces an options memo with a recommendation.

Instructions

1. Read the practice profile. Load ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md. If it contains [PLACEHOLDER] markers or does not exist, stop and say: "This plugin needs setup before it can give you useful output. Run /ip-legal:cold-start-interview — the C&D skill depends on your enforcement posture, approval matrix, and practice-area mix, none of which are configured yet."

1. Check matter workspaces. Per ## Matter workspaces: if Enabled is ✗, skip — skills use practice-level context. If enabled and there is no active matter, ask: "Which matter is this for? Run /ip-legal:matter-workspace switch <slug> or say practice-level."

1. Dispatch on `$ARGUMENTS`:

• If --send is present: run send mode (below). Walk through identify-the-right, identify-the-conduct, identify-the-relationship, identify-the-demand, calibrate-to-posture, draft, and the pre-delivery gate.
• If --receive is present: run receive mode (below). Ask for the incoming letter (path or pasted text), then assess, identify exposure, present options, and write the triage memo.
• If neither flag is present: ask once — "Are we sending a cease-and-desist (you're asserting) or triaging one we received (you're defending)?" — and then dispatch.

1. Respect the gate. In send mode, the loud gate runs before any final draft is written to disk. Do not skip it.

1. Respect the approval matrix. Pull the approver for the C&D row from ## Enforcement posture → Approval matrix. Pull automatic escalations. Surface both in the gate; do not smother them.

1. Hand off where appropriate. In receive mode, if the recommendation is to respond firmly, offer to chain into /ip-legal:cease-desist --send pre-populated with the response context. If the recommendation is to pre-empt with a DJ action or TTAB cancellation, escalate to outside counsel per the practice profile's IP litigation row — do not draft.

Examples

/ip-legal:cease-desist --send
/ip-legal:cease-desist --receive ~/Downloads/incoming-cd-acme.pdf
/ip-legal:cease-desist

Notes

• The outgoing C&D does not carry the work-product header. The internal draft, the pre-send brief, and the triage memo do.
• Trademark rights are territorial; the draft assumes the jurisdictions declared in your practice profile's Registered in: footprint. If the conduct or counterparty is somewhere else, flag before drafting.
• Every [CITE:___] is unverified until a citator run. Source attribution tags stay on the draft.
• Non-lawyer users get a one-page brief for the attorney conversation before the gate clears.

Purpose

A cease-and-desist letter asserts a legal right and demands that someone stop doing something. It is one of the most consequential letters an IP practice sends or receives. Sending one is a first step toward litigation — recipients can file a declaratory judgment action in a forum of their choosing, and overbroad or bad-faith assertions can be used against the sender. Receiving one starts a clock and forces a decision. This skill handles both sides with the guardrails the decision deserves.

Two modes:

• --send — you are asserting. Draft a C&D calibrated to the posture, gate before delivery.
• --receive — you are defending. Triage the incoming letter, produce an options memo, route to matter creation if warranted.

If the user does not pass a flag, ask once: "Are we sending a cease-and-desist (you're asserting) or triaging one we received (you're defending)?"

External deliverable (send mode): the drafted C&D is sent to counterparty. Do NOT include the PRIVILEGED & CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT header on the outgoing letter. Internal drafts, pre-send briefs, and triage memos keep the header per plugin config ## Outputs.

Jurisdiction assumption

Trademark rights are territorial — a US registration does not travel. Copyright is Berne-multilateral but enforcement is jurisdiction-specific, and statutory remedies (including US §504 statutory damages) turn on local law. This skill assumes the jurisdiction declared in the matter or the practice profile's Registered in: footprint. If the infringing conduct, counterparty, or forum is somewhere else, flag it — the draft may not apply as written.

Load context

• ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md → ## Enforcement posture (posture, C&D triggers, soft-letter criteria, approval matrix, automatic escalations), ## IP practice profile (practice area mix, registered jurisdictions, outside counsel roster), ## Outputs (work-product header, role), ## Who's using this (role — lawyer vs. non-lawyer)
• Any C&D template or enforcement playbook referenced in the practice profile's seed documents — read it, match the structure
• Matter context. Check ## Matter workspaces in the practice-level CLAUDE.md. If Enabled is ✗ (the default for in-house users), skip matter machinery — skills use practice-level context. If enabled and there is no active matter, ask: "Which matter is this for? Run /ip-legal:matter-workspace switch <slug> or say practice-level." Load the active matter's matter.md for matter-specific overrides (e.g., posture override, approver override). Write outputs to the matter folder at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/matters/<matter-slug>/. Never read another matter's files unless Cross-matter context is on.

Send mode — drafting the C&D

Step 1: Identify the right

Ask, in one batch:

Which IP right are we asserting? - Trademark — is it registered? Where (USPTO, EUIPO, UKIPO, national)? Reg number and class(es)? Or common-law-only (first-use date, geographic scope)? - Copyright — is it registered? Title, registration number, date? Or unregistered (note: US suits require registration for filed claims; statutory damages and fees require pre-infringement registration)? - Both — identify each.

Record each right. Registered rights get cited by number. Common-law rights get the first-use evidence paragraph. Unregistered copyrights get a flag: "We may not be able to file suit on an unregistered US copyright without registering first — [SME VERIFY] before the letter threatens litigation."

Step 2: Identify the conduct

Describe the infringing conduct in specifics, not adjectives: - Who is doing it — entity name, individual, platform handle? - What — the accused mark, the accused copy, the accused product? Attach or describe samples. - Where — website URL, marketplace listing, physical retail, social media? - Since when — date first observed, date of the earliest use you can document? - Evidence — screenshots, receipts, watch-service hit, customer confusion reports?

Facts go in specific. "You sold product X on [URL] bearing the mark [Y] on [date]" beats "You have been infringing our rights." Adjectives tell on a thin record.

Step 3: Identify the relationship

What's the relationship between us and the recipient? - Competitor (direct or adjacent) — standard posture applies - Reseller / channel partner — tone adjusts; consider the soft-letter path - Former licensee / ex-employee / former partner — contract provisions likely apply; cite them - Stranger / random infringer — standard - Current customer / partner — automatic escalation per practice profile; flag before drafting

This changes tone, approver, and whether to draft at all without escalation.

Step 4: Identify the demand

What does the client actually want? - Stop — cease the infringing use