What does cease and desist mean?
Answer
From Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed 2019)
cease-and-desist letter (1959) A cautionary notice sent to an alleged wrongdoer, describing the offensive activity and the complainant's remedies and demanding that the activity stop. • A cease-and-desist letter is commonly used to stop or block the suspected or actual infringement of an intellectual-property right before litigation. Ignoring a cease-and-desist letter may be taken as evidence that the infringement was willful.
cease-and-desist order (1918) 1. A court's or agency's order prohibiting a person from continuing a particular course of conduct. See INJUNCTION; RESTRAINING ORDER. 2. Intellectual property. An order issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission temporarily enjoining a party from further sale or distribution of allegedly infringing goods imported into the United States during the pendency of a § 337 investigation. See SECTION 337 INVESTIGATION. — Abbr. CDO.