When a company builds up a recognizable brand, sometimes it has to send out cease-and-desist letters to other businesses. But it’s rare when such a letter is this, well, nice.
As Christina Warren reported, Patrick Wensink recently received a cease-and-desist letter from Jack Daniel’s Properties — the owner of the Jack Daniel’s trademarks — because the cover of his book Broken Piano For President apparently beared a striking resemblance to the whiskey-giant’s famous design.
It wasn’t the letter itself that made this such a newsworthy item — it was the polite wording of said case-and-desist letter.
But an amiable cease-and-desist letter wasn’t the only noteworthy thing Jack Daniel’s Properties did. The company didn’t even ask Mr. Wensink to take his book off the shelf; it just asked him to change the cover when it’s reprinted.
‘We’re Flattered’
Here’s an excerpt from the what may very well be the most famous cease-and-desist letter in recent memory:
“We are certainly flattered by your affection for the brand, but while we can appreciate the pop culture appeal of Jack Daniel’s, we also have to be diligent to ensure that the Jack Daniel’s trademarks are used correctly … What may not be so apparent, however, is that if we allow uses like this one (Wensink’s cover), we run the very real risk that our trademark will be weakened … You may even have run into similar problems with your own intellectual property … we simply request that you change the cover design when the book is re-printed. If you would be willing to change the design sooner than that (including the digital version), we would be willing to contribute a reasonable amount towards the costs of doing so …”
Reader’s what do you think of Jack Daniel’s approach to sending a cease-and-desist letter? Let us know in the Comments section.