/cease-desist

name: cease-desist
description: >
  Draft a cease-and-desist letter (send mode) or triage one you received
  (receive mode). Use when asserting your rights against an infringer with a
  demand letter calibrated to your enforcement posture, or when an incoming
  C&D needs triage into a structured options memo with a recommendation.
argument-hint: "<--send | --receive> [context, counterparty, or path to incoming letter]"

/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)?"

> **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 ou