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A Great Response to a Cease and Desist Letter

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Re: A Great Response to a Cease and Desist Letter

#121

Post by Weltan »

EvanKelly wrote: post #113
agilord wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is there no push for "the looser pays all the costs" in the US? It works in many countries around the world, and it would prevent unjustified legal bullying.

Would that also prevent smaller entities from suing larger ones for fear of having to eat the gigantic legal fees if they lost? I see the benefits from both systems, not sure which I would be a proponent of.

The right system is the one which gives the judge a discretion as to who pays costs, guided by court rules as well as economic sense and equitable principles.

Re: A Great Response to a Cease and Desist Letter

#122

Post by masklinn »

LukeShu wrote: post #119
codezero wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, it looks like such kindly worded cease and desist orders do not actually produce results, the person here doesn't appear to have changed the cover of the book at all. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1621050203

That page is for the first edition of the book.

Indeed, here is the second edition: http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Piano-President-Patrick-Wensink...

Re: A Great Response to a Cease and Desist Letter

#123

Post by weland »

kevinalexbrown wrote: post #43

This reminds me about how important it is to have a solid lawyer, and an understanding of the legal ecosystem. Even in cases like this with typos, "respond in ten (10) days" can be quite intimidating, especially when there's a money/legal power asymmetry. In one such case, Monster Cable issued a C&D to a much smaller, Blue Jeans Cable. The founder actually worked in litigation for 19 years and I found this portion of…

A while ago, some folks in my country of origin started to make efforts towards a bill that (had it passed -- needless to say, it had no chance) might have provided some form of solution here. The essence of the bill was that, if one of these bullies sent an unfounded cease and desist letter that failed to explicitly cite its legal basis and was aimed at a company for whom full legal procedures would have had a significant financial impact, it would be assimilated as blackmail and treated accordingly. Blackmail is treated fairly seriously by the legal system, and makes quite the reputation. Do you think this could be a solution for cases like these?

Alternatively, how about the possibility of allowing small companies to demonstrate that they cannot withstand the costs of a trial upfront, in which case the trial would be paid for by the state; if the trial is lost, the owners pay (fair enough...). Otherwise, the state can get its money back from the damages paid by the suing company.

Re: A Great Response to a Cease and Desist Letter

#124

Post by duncan_bayne »

larrys wrote: post #103
kevinalexbrown wrote: post #43

This reminds me about how important it is to have a solid lawyer, and an understanding of the legal ecosystem. Even in cases like this with typos, "respond in ten (10) days" can be quite intimidating, especially when there's a money/legal power asymmetry. In one such case, Monster Cable issued a C&D to a much smaller, Blue Jeans Cable. The founder actually worked in litigation for 19 years and I found this portion of…

From the quoted letter, and to some of your points as well: "I would rather spend fifty thousand dollars on defense" There are other costs, it's not just money. There is time (even if someone else is footing the legal bill), uncertainty, aggravation, stress for a process that can take years. Involvement in legal matters is not trivial. While I think that anyone who has been involved in the psychological aspects of li…

> I believe that it is felt by some that

What is your opinion?

Re: A Great Response to a Cease and Desist Letter

#125

Post by kreeben »

danielweber wrote: post #73
vonskippy wrote: post #57

This is just another sad reminder of how broke the legal system is in the States. A simple fix, for this and many other types of legal bullying, make the protesting party pay ALL legal fees and a stiff penalty if they lose in court. Protects the clear cut owners who get infringed, yet weeds out bs cases like this one. Since it makes sense, is fair, and would simplify things - you know it will NEVER happen.

That's not strictly better. You can be discouraged from suing big parties because they may run up their own bills, which you would have to pay if you lost. And losing doesn't mean your case was without merit. There is no perfect answer. It beats the old days where people would have to fight to the death to settle disputes, at least.

Starting a company in teh USA is similar to plugging a winxp sp1 machine into the network. Only a few seconds til the first law suit/virus. Zing!

Re: A Great Response to a Cease and Desist Letter

#127

Post by levosmetalo »

EvanKelly wrote: post #113
agilord wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is there no push for "the looser pays all the costs" in the US? It works in many countries around the world, and it would prevent unjustified legal bullying.

Would that also prevent smaller entities from suing larger ones for fear of having to eat the gigantic legal fees if they lost? I see the benefits from both systems, not sure which I would be a proponent of.

No system should refund all the cost, just the basic "necessary" costs, for example the costs of one lawyer for small cases or a small team of lawyers for large cases.

I think it is how it works in many countries. Otherwise, what would prevent a party that is sure that it will win to hire 1000 lawyers in the last day of trial just to inflate the costs of the loosing party?

Re: A Great Response to a Cease and Desist Letter

#129

Post by chris_wot »

duncan_bayne wrote: post #124
larrys wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the quoted letter, and to some of your points as well: "I would rather spend fifty thousand dollars on defense" There are other costs, it's not just money. There is time (even if someone else is footing the legal bill), uncertainty, aggravation, stress for a process that can take years. Involvement in legal matters is not trivial. While I think that anyone who has been involved in the psychological aspects of li…

> I believe that it is felt by some that What is your opinion?

Nice response to the usage of peacock terms :-)

Re: A Great Response to a Cease and Desist Letter

#130

Post by lmm »

agilord wrote: post #111
kevinalexbrown wrote: post #43

This reminds me about how important it is to have a solid lawyer, and an understanding of the legal ecosystem. Even in cases like this with typos, "respond in ten (10) days" can be quite intimidating, especially when there's a money/legal power asymmetry. In one such case, Monster Cable issued a C&D to a much smaller, Blue Jeans Cable. The founder actually worked in litigation for 19 years and I found this portion of…

Why is there no push for "the looser pays all the costs" in the US? It works in many countries around the world, and it would prevent unjustified legal bullying.

An equitable system would ensure the tight also pay.
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