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 22^nd 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 The unauthorized Chinese trademark application had been rejected, the US application's attorney had withdrawn, and the expresslrs[.]dev domain had been taken down.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 31^st deadline for the demands in our cease and desist letter.

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

Cease all use of the ExpressLRS trademark
Assign the US trademark application to ExpressLRS LLC
Abandon the Chinese trademark application
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 4^th: An unsigned assignment agreement document was shared
November 17^th: A signed agreement was sent, but with a signature our counsel stated was legally inadequate
November 18^th: We explained the signature issue, and assurance was given it would be corrected
November 20^th: 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 15^th, 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