Dear Counsel,

We represent Cirrus Array Systems, Inc. This letter responds to your demand regarding NORTHSTAR ARC. We acknowledge receipt, but Cirrus does not accept the characterization or demands in your letter. Cirrus does not concede that NORTHSTAR ARC is valid, enforceable, or entitled to protection beyond what appears in the cited registration; that Northstar Arc has priority except as shown on public records; that CIRRUS NORTHSTAR ARRAY is likely to confuse; that Cirrus intended to confuse; or that any damages are owed. A registration is not a finding of infringement.

Your demand seeks cessation of use, domain transfer, destruction, customer and revenue disclosure, and a monetary payment. Cirrus declines those requests at this stage. It will not provide customer lists, revenue figures, privileged materials, or other discovery in response to a demand. This response is without prejudice, and no defense is waived.

The mark Cirrus uses is the full composite CIRRUS NORTHSTAR ARRAY, with CIRRUS displayed first and largest. That mark must be compared as encountered in the marketplace. NORTHSTAR ARC and CIRRUS NORTHSTAR ARRAY differ in appearance, sound, meaning, and overall commercial impression. The only shared word, “Northstar,” appears in many energy and engineering names. A commercial search identified 46 active businesses using “Northstar” in a trade or product name. Even if legal protection or customer recognition for those uses is not established, their existence underscores that “Northstar” is shared rather than distinctive, and any strength of the asserted mark is correspondingly limited.

The parties’ offerings also differ. Cirrus sells field-monitoring hardware and dashboards for solar arrays. Northstar Arc provides grid-forecasting analytics and consulting. Both are in the energy field, but relatedness is not enough. The channels overlap only partially; the parties have attended one conference where both were present. Cirrus’s sales process is long and careful: average contracts are substantial and require technical demonstrations, security review, procurement review, and executive approval over four to six months. Those purchasers are sophisticated and are not likely to rely on a shared term in a composite mark.

The isolated vendor inquiry in your demand is not actual confusion. The vendor asked whether the “Cirrus Northstar booth” was part of Northstar Arc, but it corrected its records after receiving Cirrus’s full name. No customer, contract, payment, or support request has been misdirected. At most, this was momentary uncertainty, not evidence of likely confusion.

Cirrus also adopted its name independently. The product name derives from constellation terminology, with “Array” referring to solar arrays. Cirrus did not select the name with any intent to trade on Northstar Arc or its mark. We do not disclose privileged naming materials in this letter. Independent adoption is relevant to intent.

Without admitting any obligation, Cirrus is willing to discuss a controlled resolution. We propose a mutual 30-day standstill. During that standstill, the parties will delay litigation and preserve the status quo. Cirrus is prepared, through counsel and without disclosing privileged or commercially sensitive information, to discuss its commercial presentation, including consistent use of the full CIRRUS NORTHSTAR ARRAY mark and feasible market-separation measures. This is not a commitment to change Cirrus’s branding or to agree to any remedy. Any agreement would be in a later written agreement.

We are willing to exchange a brief, non-confidential description of Cirrus’s packaging and sales presentation to make the discussion productive. Please contact the undersigned if your client is willing to agree to the standstill and schedule a counsel call.

This letter is without prejudice. All defenses and remedies, including challenges to validity, priority, enforceability, confusion, and damages, are expressly reserved.

Very truly yours,
Counsel for Cirrus Array Systems, Inc.