Need some real legal advice (And yes, I am seeking council in the morning).
We are putting on a 5K Race on Thanksgiving morning. Our official name does not have the words turkey trot in it. A Turkey Trot who does use the words "Turkey Trot" in their name in the next town over has sent us a cease and desist letter stating "I am writing to demand that you and your entities cease and desist from using the terms "Turkey Trot", "Turkey", or "Trot" in promoting {Race Name}.
The letter also states: "I am aware from your Twitter postings of this morning that your use of the terms Turkey Trot has caused confusion, which you had to clarify in your response to @{TwitterHandle}, which occurred only moments after you posted notice of the {Race Name}. I believe that this will be indicative of the confusion that will spread from your wrongful use of the terms Turkey Trot, Turkey and Trot in promoting the {Race Name}.
It goes on to state: "Please be advised that {Evil Turkey Trot} will undertake all appropriate steps to protect its marks and its associated goodwill, including (1) preliminary and permanent injunctions; (2) actual monetary damages; (3) disgorging of any profits you have realized; (4) reimbursement of attorney's fees required to prosecute a lawsuit against you; and (5) monetary damages for damage to the {Evil Turkey Trot's} goodwill in the market.
This is as real as it can get and if I could post pictures of it or the PDF that was sent to me (They are sending it certified mail as well), then I would post it, but I don't want to post who I am or our event for fear of retribution from the lawyers who are putting on the competing turkey trot. Note the goodwill threats there...
Our site does use the words turkey trot but does not name itself a turkey trot. We also use those words in our meta tags for SEO.
Question, How do I defend against this?
How easy is my lawyer going to win?
Can I do anything to be punitive against the lawyers for such a flagrant use of their license?