Walking the Tightrope of Cease-And- Desist Le Ers
ARTICLE Walking the Tightrope of Cease-and- Desist Leers June 2018 Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal By Jason E. Stach; Nathan I. North Cease-and-desist letters, and less aggressive notice letters, can serve several purposes for patent owners. Among other things, they can open licensing negotiations, serve as warnings to competitors, create notice for damages, and establish knowledge for indirect infringement. But sending these letters can also be risky. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s MedImmune v. Genentech decision,1 the letters may more easily create declaratory judgment (DJ) jurisdiction, allowing a potential defendant to select its preferred forum and to control the timing of an action. Despite the tension between these competing doctrines, courts have acknowledged that it is possible to send legally effective cease-and- desist letters2 while also avoiding DJ jurisdiction. To do so, patentees must carefully approach these letters to minimize risks while still achieving their goals. A closer look at these issues reveals several ways to minimize this risk. Declaratory Judgment Jurisdiction: A Look at the Totality of the Circumstances In MedImmune, the Supreme Court evaluated DJ jurisdiction under a totality-of-the-circumstances test, where there must be “a substantial controversy, between parties having adverse legal interests, of sufficient immediacy and reality to warrant relief.“3 Looking to the totality of the circumstances, courts analyze the contents of a cease-and-desist letter as a key factor—but often not the only factor—in assessing DJ jurisdiction. Other factors include the relationship of the parties, litigation history of the patent owner, actions of the parties, and more, as discussed below in the context of the MedImmune test.