In one enforcement file this year, a fast-food outlet was using a well-known cartoon character on its food boxes and in its social media promotion. After our warning letter was delivered, the owner contacted us to say he had removed all infringing materials.
We did not close the file on a phone call. We asked specifically for two things: destruction of the food boxes carrying the infringing wording, and removal of all related promotional images from the outlet's social media pages.
Later that month we attended and witnessed the signing of a written legal undertaking. We then sent the rights holder the signed undertaking together with photographs showing that the boxes were no longer in use.
If the copying returns, the brand owner holds a signed commitment and visual proof, not a phone call.
Before closing any infringement file:
- Name the exact items to be destroyed
- Cover the infringer's social media pages, not only the shop
- Get a signed undertaking, with your agent present at the signing
- Photograph the outlet afterwards and keep the photos with the undertaking
Facing a copycat in Iraq? Our Baghdad and Erbil team can take the file from warning letter to signed undertaking.