Add legal update blog post: Final pre-litigation demand issued

[Copilot]

Adds blog post announcing the final pre-litigation demand in the ExpressLRS trademark dispute case, providing community update on legal proceedings and next steps.

Changes

• Blog post: Created 2025-12-15-expresslrs-legal-update-final-pre-litigation-demand.md covering timeline of failed compliance, final demand details, and planned legal actions
• Author: Added mustardtiger to .authors.yml with GitHub avatar
• Spellcheck: Extended .wordlist.txt with legal terminology (RockIP, UDRP, Lanham, cybersquatting, counsel, etc.)

Content Structure

Post follows existing blog format with sections:

• TL;DR and timeline since October 22nd update
• Pattern of delay documentation (Nov 4-20 failed transfers)
• Final demand terms (5 business days to comply)
• Escalation path (USPTO opposition, UDRP, Lanham Act claims)
• Community support acknowledgment ($20k+ donations)

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Original prompt

Create a new markdown blog post file in the docs/blog/posts/ directory of the ExpressLRS/Docs repository. The file should be named 2025-12-15-expresslrs-legal-update-final-pre-litigation-demand.md and contain the following content:

ExpressLRS Legal Update: Final Pre-Litigation Demand Issued

TL;DR

After months of delays, broken promises, and incomplete compliance, the ExpressLRS team has issued a final pre-litigation demand letter through our legal counsel. This represents the final step before initiating formal judicial and administrative proceedings.

What's Happened Since Our Last Update

When we published our October 22nd update, we had reason to be cautiously optimistic. The unauthorized Chinese trademark application had been rejected, the US application's attorney had withdrawn, and the expresslrs[.]dev domain had been taken down. Coming up soon was the October 31st deadline for the demands in our cease and desist letter.

October 31st came and went without a peep, and as we prepared to move to the next phase, on November 2nd the individual behind these filings reached out through an intermediary to negotiate resolution. At that time, the individual agreed to:

1. Cease all use of the ExpressLRS trademark
2. Assign the US trademark application to ExpressLRS LLC
3. Abandon the Chinese trademark application
4. Transfer the expresslrs[.]dev domain

We extended goodwill, provided an additional 48-hour grace period, and worked with them to facilitate these transfers.

A Pattern of Delay and Non-Compliance

What followed was six weeks of excuses, delays, and incomplete actions:

• November 4th: An unsigned assignment agreement document was shared
• November 17th: A signed agreement was sent, but with a signature our council stated was legally inadequate
• November 18th: We explained the signature issue, and assurance was given it would be corrected
• November 20th: We were told a physical notarized signature would be provided instead

Then... silence. No message, no signature, no domain transfer.

Throughout this time, while claiming to act in "good faith," the individual made no effort to actually complete the simple steps required to transfer the trademark application or domain name. The domain remains registered to "radiomistress" to this day, and has since been put back online with a personal disclaimer page that spuriously attempts to distance itself from ExpressLRS while continuing to retain control of domains historically and unambiguously associated with the project.

Why This Matters

Each passing day that these issues remain unresolved creates ongoing confusion in the marketplace, diverts project resources from development to legal defense, and undermines the trust and goodwill that makes open-source communities possible.

The pattern of behavior demonstrates what our legal counsel describes as "intentional obstruction and further evidence of bad-faith conduct."

The Final Demand

On [December 15th, 2025], Rock IP (our legal counsel) sent a comprehensive demand letter. This letter makes clear that any presumption of mistake or misunderstanding has been exhausted.

The letter provides five (5) business days to complete the demands we previously made.

All documents will be provided with direct electronic signature links. There are no technical barriers. There are no legitimate reasons for further delay.

What Happens Next

If these steps are not completed within five business days, ExpressLRS LLC will initiate:

• Judicial proceedings for trademark infringement and cybersquatting
• USPTO opposition to the trademark application
• UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) proceedings for domain recovery
• Claims for injunctive relief, damages for willful infringement, and attorney's fees under the Lanham Act

We don't take this lightly. Litigation is expensive and time-consuming, and diverts developer time and project funds that we’d rather spend on making ExpressLRS even better. Unfortunately after months of good-faith efforts to resolve this amicably, we cannot allow further obstruction to continue.

Our Commitment to the Community

ExpressLRS exists because of its community. When we shared our first update about this situation, we received an outpouring of support, both moral and financial. Since our October blog post, over $20,000 USD in donations have been received to support these legal efforts. We cannot express how much we appreciate everyone’s contributions. You deserve to know how we're protecting the project, how we’re making use of these funds, and why we're taking the actions we are.

A Quick Thanks


In October, we connected with RockIP after one of their associates, an FPV pilot who flies ExpressLRS and heard about the dispute, recognized what was going on and reached out, which meant we didn’t have to explain the ecosystem or the stakes from scratch. RockIP has been nothing but incredible in their partnership, and we couldn...

This pull request was created as a result of the following prompt from Copilot chat.

Create a new markdown blog post file in the docs/blog/posts/ directory of the ExpressLRS/Docs repository. The file should be named 2025-12-15-expresslrs-legal-update-final-pre-litigation-demand.md and contain the following content:

ExpressLRS Legal Update: Final Pre-Litigation Demand Issued

TL;DR

After months of delays, broken promises, and incomplete compliance, the ExpressLRS team has issued a final pre-litigation demand letter through our legal counsel. This represents the final step before initiating formal judicial and administrative proceedings.

What's Happened Since Our Last Update

When we published our October 22nd update, we had reason to be cautiously optimistic. The unauthorized Chinese trademark application had been rejected, the US application's attorney had withdrawn, and the expresslrs[.]dev domain had been taken down. Coming up soon was the October 31st deadline for the demands in our cease and desist letter.

October 31st came and went without a peep, and as we prepared to move to the next phase, on November 2nd the individual behind these filings reached out through an intermediary to negotiate resolution. At that time, the individual agreed to:

1. Cease all use of the ExpressLRS trademark
2. Assign the US trademark application to ExpressLRS LLC
3. Abandon the Chinese trademark application
4. Transfer the expresslrs[.]dev domain

We extended goodwill, provided an additional 48-hour grace period, and worked with them to facilitate these transfers.

A Pattern of Delay and Non-Compliance

What followed was six weeks of excuses, delays, and incomplete actions:

• November 4th: An unsigned assignment agreement document was shared
• November 17th: A signed agreement was sent, but with a signature our council stated was legally inadequate
• November 18th: We explained the signature issue, and assurance was given it would be corrected
• November 20th: We were told a physical notarized signature would be provided instead

Then... silence. No message, no signature, no domain transfer.

Throughout this time, while claiming to act in "good faith," the individual made no effort to actually complete the simple steps required to transfer the trademark application or domain name. The domain remains registered to "radiomistress" to this day, and has since been put back online with a personal disclaimer page that spuriously attempts to distance itself from ExpressLRS while continuing to retain control of domains historically and unambiguously associated with the project.

Why This Matters

Each passing day that these issues remain unresolved creates ongoing confusion in the marketplace, diverts project resources from development to legal defense, and undermines the trust and goodwill that makes open-source communities possible.

The pattern of behavior demonstrates what our legal counsel describes as "intentional obstruction and further evidence of bad-faith conduct."

The Final Demand

On [December 15th, 2025], Rock IP (our legal counsel) sent a comprehensive demand letter. This letter makes clear that any presumption of mistake or misunderstanding has been exhausted.

The letter provides five (5) business days to complete the demands we previously made.

All documents will be provided with direct electronic signature links. There are no technical barriers. There are no legitimate reasons for further delay.

What Happens Next

If these steps are not completed within five business days, ExpressLRS LLC will initiate:

• Judicial proceedings for trademark infringement and cybersquatting
• USPTO opposition to the trademark application
• UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) proceedings for domain recovery
• Claims for injunctive relief, damages for willful infringement, and attorney's fees under the Lanham Act

We don't take this lightly. Litigation is expensive and time-consuming, and diverts developer time and project funds that we’d rather spend on making ExpressLRS even better. Unfortunately after months of good-faith efforts to resolve this amicably, we cannot allow further obstruction to continue.

Our Commitment to the Community

ExpressLRS exists because of its community. When we shared our first update about this situation, we received an outpouring of support, both moral and financial. Since our October blog post, over $20,000 USD in donations have been received to support these legal efforts. We cannot express how much we appreciate everyone’s contributions. You deserve to know how we're protecting the project, how we’re making use of these funds, and why we're taking the actions we are.

A Quick Thanks


In October, we connected with RockIP after one of their associates, an FPV pilot who flies ExpressLRS and heard about the dispute, recognized what was going on and reached out, which meant we didn’t have to explain the ecosystem or the stakes from scratch. RockIP has been nothing but incredible in their partnership, and we couldn’t ask for better. We want to extend a special thank you to them for their tremendous representation in this matter.

Looking Forward

We hope this final demand results in immediate and complete compliance so that this chapter can close and we can refocus entirely on what we do best, building the best open-source RC control link.

If it doesn’t, we're prepared to take this as far as necessary. We’re certain we have the standing, resources, legal representation, and community support to see this through. We'll provide another update once we know the outcome of this final demand. In the meantime, development continues, 4.0’s release is right around the corner, and we’ll keep flying.

Thank you for your continued support.

MUSTARDTIGER
On behalf of the ExpressLRS development team

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