/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."

2. 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."

3. 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.

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

5. 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.

6. 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)?"

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