You have received a comprehensive letter from the Law firm Kessler IP & Legal Expertise (formerly acting under the name Kessler Kaiser Rechtsanwälte) from Würzburg on behalf of the AUDI AG received? Are you accused of having committed a trademark infringement on sales platforms such as eBay, Etsy, Amazon or in your own online store?

The receipt of such a letter understandably triggers existential fears among private individuals and traders. The sums demanded are enormous and the deadlines set are extremely short. But keep calm. As a law firm specializing in intellectual property law under the direction of Lawyer Robert Meyen we have already successfully handled thousands of warning letters, injunctions and injunction actions and defended our clients against global corporations. We know the exact tactics of the other side and know how to effectively fend off unjustified or exaggerated claims.

Act now, but act strategically: Use our FREE WARNING CHECK. Send us your Warning letter completely non-binding. You will immediately receive a free initial legal assessment of your individual situation.

The legal situation: What exactly is Audi AG accusing you of?

AUDI AG, based in Ingolstadt, is one of the car manufacturers that monitors its global brand portfolio most restrictively. The Group does not tolerate any unauthorized use of its trademarks in business dealings. The enforcement of this zero-tolerance policy in Germany is primarily the responsibility of the Würzburg law firm Kessler IP & Legal Expertise (and in some cases also the law firm HK2 Attorneys at Law).

The legal core accusation in the mass of warning letters we receive is regularly based on infringements of Section 14 (1) and (2) of the German Trademark Act (MarkenG) and Article 9 (1) and (2) of the EU Trademark Regulation (UMV). Specifically, the accusation is that you have offered products for sale that bear protected AUDI AG trademarks without these being original licensed goods.

Often, the warned dealers are not even aware of how far-reaching the Ingolstadt-based company's trademark protection is. The warnings are by no means limited to the obvious. The comprehensively protected and rigorously defended trademarks include, among others:

Scope of protection of AUDI AG under trademark law	Specific signs and word marks
Logos and figurative marks	The world-famous sign of the four intertwined rings (registered as EU trademark no. 000018762).
Classic vehicle models	The designations A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8.
SUV and off-road vehicles	The Q series, consisting of Q3, Q5, Q7.
Sports and performance models	S1, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, SQ7, RS1, RS3, RS4, RS5, RS6, RS7, RSQ5, RSQ7, TT, TTS, TT RS.
Technology and design lines	Lettering such as "quattro", "S-Line" and "MMI".

The range of products that are the subject of warnings, particularly on eBay, eBay classifieds and Etsy, is immense. We most frequently represent clients who are accused of the unauthorized sale of the following items:

• Automotive accessories (especially radiator grilles, bumpers and hub caps)

• Emblems and foil stickers for vehicle refinement

• Entrance lighting (LED door projectors that project the logo onto the floor)

• Lifestyle products such as key rings, clothing and model cars

• Storage media and navigation DVDs

The determination of your identity as a seller is often perfidious. Audi AG's lawyers or contracted service providers carry out anonymous test purchases on the platforms. Your true identity is established beyond doubt using the data provided during payment and shipping (account details, sender address).

The financial risk: The four claims of the law firm Kessler IP

Trademark disputes are among the most expensive disputes in German civil law. The claims with which you are confronted in the warning letter from the law firm Kessler IP & Legal Expertise are drastic and require immediate, tactically clever intervention in order to protect your economic existence.

A typical trademark warning letter from Audi AG contains four central claims that are cumulatively asserted against you:

1. the submission of a cease-and-desist declaration with penalty clause

This is the most dangerous part of the warning letter. Kessler IP asks you to sign a pre-formulated declaration to cease and desist and undertaking already attached to the letter. Our urgent warning: Under no circumstances should you do this without checking! This declaration is formulated unilaterally in favor of Audi AG and is similar to a legal acknowledgement of guilt. It provides for a fixed contractual penalty in the amount of EUR 5,000.00 or even EUR 5,001.00 for absolutely every case of future infringement. If you sign this document, you bind yourself to these conditions, which threaten your existence, for the rest of your life.

2. extremely high legal costs (lawyer's fees)

The other party's legal fees are calculated according to the value in dispute. In the case of a world-famous brand such as Audi, the courts and law firms set this value in dispute extremely high, by default at EUR 150,000.00. The law firm Kessler IP calculates a 1.3-fold business fee from this astronomical object value. Including flat-rate expenses and VAT, this results in an immediate request for payment of EUR 3,020.34.

3. comprehensive claims for information and damages

In order to quantify the damage it has suffered, Audi AG is asserting far-reaching claims for information. You are requested to disclose your entire purchasing and sales channels. This includes naming your suppliers and commercial customers as well as the exact amount of sales and profits made. This data serves as the basis for the next step, which is to assert massive claims for damages against you in the form of a fictitious license fee.

4. reimbursement of costs for test purchases and destruction claims

In addition to the legal fees, Audi AG demands reimbursement of the costs incurred for carrying out the anonymous test purchases (often several hundred euros). You will also be asked to destroy any counterfeit products still in your possession at your own expense or to hand them over to Audi AG.

Calculating the financial risk of an Audi warning letter	Amount / dimension
Value in dispute of the warning letter	EUR 150,000.00
Claim for legal fees (Kessler IP)	EUR 3,020.34
Flat-rate contractual penalty (for future breaches)	from EUR 5,000.00
Litigation cost risk (costs in the event of legal escalation)	approx. 16,000.00 EUR

Caution with vehicle spare parts

A particularly critical area in which many dealers fall into the warning trap completely unaware is the sale of aftermarket body parts, especially radiator grilles from third-party manufacturers.

For decades, there was a misconception in the industry that the sale of identical spare parts was always legally covered by the so-called repair clause. It was assumed that a radiator grille must necessarily have a recess for the four Audi rings so that the end customer can reattach the original emblem to the repaired vehicle.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) with its landmark ruling of January 25, 2024 (Case C-334/22) a clear rejection. The ECJ ruled unequivocally in favor of AUDI AG: A car manufacturer is entitled to prohibit third-party suppliers from importing and selling spare parts if these components contain an element which is identical or similar in shape to the brand (the rings) and which is intended for the attachment of the brand emblem. According to the ECJ, it is irrelevant whether it would be technically possible to attach the emblem without this recess similar to the trademark.

For you as a dealer, this means maximum danger: if you sell a completely "unbranded" radiator grille that nevertheless features the distinctive recess for the four Audi rings, you are committing a full-scale trademark infringement according to current supreme court rulings. Such complex cases require the expertise of a specialist intellectual property lawyer in order to effectively minimize claims for damages.

What you must do now and what you must refrain from doing

Receiving a warning letter for more than EUR 3,000.00 often triggers panic. However, an ill-considered knee-jerk reaction is your worst enemy in this phase. If you observe the following rules of conduct, you will prevent legal missteps that will cost you dearly later on:

1. Note and monitor the deadlines meticulously: The law firm Kessler IP usually sets extremely short deadlines. Do not ignore the letter under any circumstances. If you let the deadline pass without doing anything, Audi AG will immediately apply to the court for a temporary injunction or an injunction action. With an object value of EUR 150,000.00, the costs will explode immediately. The risk of legal costs for two parties represented by a lawyer amounts to around EUR 16,000.00.

2. Never sign the enclosed declaration: The declaration to cease and desist with penalty clause attached to the warning letter is a legal minefield. It is formulated as an admission of guilt and contains contractual penalties that are far too high. A specialist lawyer for industrial property protection will draw up a so-called Modified cease-and-desist declaration (modUE) draft. Although this eliminates the legal risk of repetition (and thus prevents the lawsuit), it does not constitute an admission of guilt, limits the obligation to provide information and reduces future contractual penalties to a fair and verifiable level by applying the "New Hamburg Customs".

3. Do not make direct contact with the other party: Never call Kessler IP & Legal Expertise yourself. The opposing lawyers are trained in rhetoric. Everything you justify on the phone (such as: "I didn't know that was illegal" or "I only sold ten units") will be documented and used against you in case of doubt. All communication should, without exception, take place via your legal representative.

4. No premature payments or information: Do not transfer the EUR 3,020.34 demanded without checking it and do not send any supplier lists to the other party. The amount of the payment will only be negotiated once your lawyer has checked whether the claims are justified.

Why marken medien meyen is your strongest partner against Audi cease-and-desist letters

Legal defence against global corporations such as AUDI AG and highly specialized warning letter law firms requires in-depth specialist knowledge and strategic negotiating skills. General civil lawyers quickly reach their limits in the complex field of trademark law.

With marken medien meyen you have Lawyer Robert Meyenspecialist lawyer for intellectual property law, with his combined expertise.

Your decisive advantages when commissioning marken.legal:

• Certified expertise: We are highly specialized in trademark law, design law and competition law. We have already handled hundreds of trademark applications and successfully defended against thousands of cease-and-desist letters and preliminary injunctions.

• Check for commercial activity: A central defense approach lies in the examination of commercial transactions. If you have sold the item purely privately (e.g. cleared out of your own garage), you are not infringing trademark law, even if it is a plagiarism. However, courts very quickly classify sales on eBay as commercial. We check this limit meticulously.

• Massive damage limitation: If Audi AG's accusation is justified in the matter, we will take on the tough out-of-court negotiations. Our aim is always to significantly reduce the utopian legal fees of over EUR 3,000 and the damages claimed and to fend off excessive claims for information.

• Exclusion of risk for the future by modUE: We will draft a modified cease-and-desist declaration tailored to your individual needs, which will be drafted as narrowly as legally possible in order to reduce the risk of future contractual penalties.

• Full cost transparency: In out-of-court defense proceedings, we work with fair, clearly defined flat fees. You will not experience any nasty surprises with us when it comes to your lawyer's bill.

Take advantage of our FREE ABMAHN CHECK

The clock is ticking, but you don't have to fight the battle alone. Let us take the legal pressure off your shoulders and use our tried and tested FREE WARNING CHECK.

The process is that simple and risk-free:

1. Submit document: Send us the warning letter from the law firm Kessler IP conveniently by e-mail to kanzlei@marken.legal or via the link above.

2. Quick legal analysis: Attorney Meyen and our specialized team immediately analyze the facts of the case for legal weaknesses and areas of attack.

3. Free initial assessment: We will get back to you immediately, explain your legal situation in clear terms, assess the chances of success of a defense and discuss the best tactical approach together. This initial assessment is completely free of charge and non-binding for you.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about the warning letter from Kessler IP for Audi

Are the extremely high legal fees of EUR 3,020.34 even lawful?
In principle, the costs are based on the amount in dispute, which courts often actually set at EUR 150,000 or more for well-known global brands such as Audi. Nevertheless, there is enormous scope for negotiation here. These claims can almost always be significantly reduced through professional legal negotiations as part of an out-of-court settlement. Under no circumstances should you transfer this amount without checking it.

I immediately deleted the listing on eBay/Etsy. Is that not enough?

No, that is a dangerous fallacy. The mere deletion of the infringing offer (the removal of the disturbance) does not cure the trademark infringement committed in the past. The claim for injunctive relief (the submission of the declaration to avoid future infringements), the claim for information and the claim for reimbursement of costs continue to exist unchanged in legal terms. If you do not respond to the letter, Audi AG will take legal action, regardless of whether the product is still online or not.

Does the warning also apply if I did not know that it was a plagiarism?

Yes, trademark law is a so-called no-fault right when it comes to pure injunctive relief. This means that you are liable for the sale of trademark infringing products in the course of trade even if you have acted in good faith or your supplier has assured you that the goods are legal. A lack of fault (ignorance) only plays a mitigating role in the assessment of damages, but not in the basic warning and the other party's legal fees.

Can social media posts also lead to trademark warnings?

Absolutely. The danger is no longer limited to sales platforms such as eBay or Amazon. Industrial property protection also applies to unfair advertising on social media. We are increasingly seeing cases in which influencers or companies are being warned because, for example, they use trademarked logos in their videos without authorization or add unlicensed music to commercial reels on Instagram and TikTok (law firms such as IPPC Law often act for record labels here). Here, too, there is a risk of extreme claims for damages if handled incorrectly. Pay strict attention to clean licenses for every business activity.