A warning that hits an entrepreneur unprepared like a fist in the eye painfully reminds him/her of his/her time as a student when the so-called “blue letter” arrived at his/her parents’ house. The message was clear: Now it’s getting serious. This fact can no longer be ignored – it was five to twelve, so to speak. Denying everything senseless – the person concerned must face the fact and deal with it. It’s the same with a warning. This does not come in the “blue letter”, but always from a lawyer with the normal daily mail.

The warnings are not only annoying, but also very expensive. Furthermore, they pose an existential danger if they are ignored.

However, before the judiciary can act, a legally secure warning is needed in advance. This consists of a request to refrain from certain behavior, which the creditor claims is illegal. Therefore, a so-called cease and desist declaration is regularly requested with a warning. Secondly, there is the dispute over the costs of the warning and possibly other payment claims such as a payment for damages.

The following legal areas are often affected by warnings:

• Competition law
• Copyright
• Trademark law
• Design law
• Title rights
• Patent rights
• Data protection rights

The best strategy is to avoid warnings by seeking legal advice. This is always cheaper than later signing an injunction and paying the amount mentioned there. The very high costs can arise due to high disputes. In addition to that, the warned persons submit themselves too far due to pre-formulated cease and desist declarations, so that this can have existential effects if e.g. already produced goods can no longer be sold or a company label can no longer be used. Furthermore, there are high contractual penalties for an injury. Additionally, the many receivers who have signed a cease-and-desist declaration do not take into account that this does not mean that the matter is resolved at all, but that claims for information, compensation, destruction and reimbursement of costs can usually be raised meticulously. If this happens, the affected parties seek a specialist lawyer in this situation. Often too late. That is why you have to clarify in advance of all activities how you can put your project on such secure feet that warnings can be excluded. Our team of lawyers can help you in this issue.