Legal Question in Business Law in Arizona

It is a good idea to have an attorney send a cease and desist letter, but not legally required. An attorney letter is attention-getting and usually recites the correct legal basis as well as consequences for disregarding the letter. Consult with a good business attorney in your area for specific advice.

Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D. - Mr. Franchise

Franchise Attorney

Kevin is right - you do not need an attorney to send a cease and desist letter. However, an attorney will be able to "say the right things" in such a letter. If you do not want to get an attorney involved at this time, you can send the letter yourself and have an attorney follow up with legal action in the event the letter has no effect.

Kevin and Riley are right. There may also be some preparation beforehand you should do to make sure you should even be sending a cease and desist letter. For instance, if someone is using your business' Arizona TM and you want them to stop, you should first do some research to make sure they weren't using it first, and to determine exactly what each party's rights are to the TM. Otherwise, you might attract their attention to your use of their TM and it will backfire on you. In the alternative, you might first do all your research, then consider filing a Federal TM before sending the cease and desist letter so that you can add the penalties involved in violating a Federal TM as well.