Igor Demcak, a founder of trademark one-stop-shop Trama, believes that brand protection plays a key role in shaping company success and has therefore devoted his efforts into making trademark registration as simple, fast and affordable as possible.
“A company’s brand represents the single most valuable asset, differentiating its products and services from other competitors in the eyes of their customers. Our mission is to protect this heart and soul of businesses by providing simple, fast and affordable trademark registration.”
“Driven by the needs of our valued clients, Trama has grown into a trademark one-stop-shop, offering trademark registration across the globe as well as further services ensuring continuing brand protection – e.g. litigation, trademark monitoring and trademark management.”
Where did the inspiration for establishing Trama come from?
“I have spent most of my professional career in the field of intellectual property protection, first working for a more traditional law firm. I could see the huge potential for automation and simplification of the process which led me to found a legal-tech solution for trademark registration Trama.“
“At the same time, it was my experience that entrepreneurs often think about brand protection only once they are faced with infringement or other issues and by that time, it is often unfortunately too late. So the goal has always been to raise awareness and simplify the process, making trademark registration more accessible to all brands that deserve to be protected.”
What makes Trama so unique in comparison to other providers of brand protection services?
“There are two main things that in my opinion separate us from our competitors. First, it is the combination of our extensive legal expertise and the use of technological solutions that allows us to work very efficiently. This allows us to offer a very competitive price for our clients whilst maintaining the highest standards of quality. Additional perks enabled by this combination of experienced trademark attorneys and tech enthusiasts for our clients include free similarity check carried out within 24 hours, express filing and easy-to-use trademark management platform.”
“Secondly, honesty and transparency represent two of the core values at Trama. We are very transparent in our pricing and we always seek to provide the best recommendation for our clients’ needs. This has allowed us to develop strong relationships with our clients based on trust.”
Can you shed some light into the ease and convenience of registering a trademark with Trama?
“3 simple steps is all it takes.
Step 1: Our clients can start with a free verification, the result of which they receive within 24 hours. This allows us to better understand our clients’ needs and tailor the recommendations.
Step 2: Based on the result of the comprehensive assessment and similarity screening, we just need few more details from our clients, such as details about the intended owner of the trademark and payment details.
Step 3: Our legal team prepares the application draft which is sent to the client for their approval prior to filing it on their behalf.”
What are the risks faced by a company without a registered trademark?
“Without proper trademark registration, competitors may easily take advantage of the company’s good reputation. Infringement attempts are becoming increasingly common and it is trademark registration that allows companies to effectively prevent such attempts. In addition to the significant loss of profit due to the brand being copied by others and associated loss of good reputation, another potential risk faced by companies without a registered trademark revolves around the future need of rebranding. Essentially, if they neglect the need to assess the uniqueness of their trademark, their competitor with a registered trademark that is highly similar may have the legal means to cease their business activities.”
How does the legal experience within your team help your customers?
“Cumulatively, our legal team has experience in the field of intellectual property protection in excess of several decades. We have registered over 2,600 trademarks and our in-house team covers all major countries, including the UK, the EU, the US and Australia. We also collaborate with external partners, ensuring that we can protect our clients’ brands virtually anywhere in the world. It is this extensive experience that allows us to give evidence-based advice to our clients, correctly identifying the potential level of risk and guiding them throughout the process in order to achieve successful registration.”
What are the success stories among the 3,259+ registrations you have carried out on behalf of your clients?
“Myriad. We of course follow a strict confidentiality agreement with our clients but with the permission of several of them, you can read some of their stories on our blog, including Kickresume, TrackMyStack, WeCodePixels, Red Phantom Games and Omniwave.”
Trademark Modernization Act has been recently introduced in the US. Do you consider it an inspiration for other countries?
“Trademark Modernization Act in the US has started a much needed change in the legislation covering intellectual property protection. While we certainly welcome these efforts, there is still a long way to go. Intellectual Property Organisations around the world need to become more responsive to the needs of the contemporary world. Let me just point out the length of the administrative process associated with trademark registration which may easily last 12-18 months in the US. This is simply too long and creates challenges for entrepreneurs who wish to protect their brands today. As it stands, the responsiveness of the UKIPO is incomparably faster but I have to say that there is always some room for improvement.”
Have you witnessed any significant impact of the pandemic on clients’ attitudes towards trademark registration?
“On a global scale, the number of trademark registrations has increased in 2021 despite the harsh impact of the pandemic and associated restrictions on the available capital for numerous companies. This is mainly caused by the gradual increase in the level of awareness of the importance of intellectual property protection and I certainly hope that we can contribute towards this trend in the future.”
How would you explain the working atmosphere in Trama?
“We do strive to create and maintain a positive working environment in our team. We have a strong culture based on the values of honesty and transparency, and that is something that has had a key influence on the way we do things at Trama. Regular opportunities for continuing professional development, interesting legal cases, inspiring debates within the team, all of that is driven by our shared commitment towards bringing revolution into the legal world.”
“At the same time, I have to admit that we have certainly faced numerous challenges over the last year. With the Covid-related fears and restrictions, we had to learn how to collaborate online but in a way I do believe that this has allowed us to take our legal-tech proposition to the next level.”
How do you stay on top of all the emerging challenges derived from evolving trademark law?
“Yes, it is, but you need a strong team. At Trama, we encourage continuing professional development of our employees. We run webinars and workshops on a regular basis to keep up to date with the changing context and there is always a helpful colleague that our trademark attorneys can turn to for advice.”
Last question, how do you see the future for Trama?
“Our ultimate goal is to change the perception of how entrepreneurs think about brand creation. It is no longer sufficient to check for available web domains and the inclusion of a trademark check, or even registration, could allow them to ensure uninterrupted growth of their business. We are working very hard to make brand protection available to every brand that deserves to be protected and raising awareness of this need.”
