There is a growing demand for brand protection in today’s business environment. With the rise of e-commerce and global trade, it has become easier for counterfeiters and infringers to exploit well-known brands and profit from their reputations. However, there is a certain stigma associated with trademark services because of their prices and convoluted processes.
In this interview, Viktor Stark, Trademark Lawyer at Trama, talks about how the company is reshaping brand protection and provides access to quality & affordable trademark registration services across the globe.
Viktor, please introduce your role in Trama.
I joined Trama in mid-July last year. At the time, they needed somebody who could take control of the summary agenda and get it organized and managed properly. So, my responsibilities currently can be divided into two things: capacity management and management of the summary agenda.
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What exactly do you mean by the summary agenda?
Summaries are how we refer to trademark applications internally. Once the client verifies the trademark registration, they receive the risk assessment within 24 hours. If there are no issues at that stage, they can decide to proceed with the application, at which point the summaries team comes in. We do the initial draft of the application, which contains all necessary details about the client and the trademark(s) they wish to register.
What would you say are the biggest challenges in doing trademark summaries?
Since every client, every jurisdiction, and every case is a little bit different from each other, they also require individual treatment. That’s why, at this stage of the process, the human touch is particularly necessary to address all the concerns and issues that clients might have. So, our main but also the most challenging task is to align the applications to the rules of different jurisdictions and the needs of our clients.
Trama is currently registering over 600 trademarks a month. How are you able to handle so many applications?
I think the key factor here is definitely my team. I couldn’t imagine doing this job well without full confidence in them. Without such a team, we wouldn’t be able to deliver such results because it takes a lot of responsibility and responsiveness to pull such numbers. You need to know how to react. You need to understand the culture we have in this company and our principles. So, I’d say the team is the main driver behind this success. I am not really managing them because they are almost completely self-managed. That gives me time to focus on the product and the data. Questions such as “How can we improve our processes and overcome some of the main bottlenecks?”
Could you give an example of some of your most common bottlenecks?
Of course. When creating a draft of a trademark application, we are also drafting the list of goods and services, which consists of very specific terms describing the area of products that the trademark will cover. For example, ThinkPad or iPhone would belong in class 9, as it covers terms such as mobile phone, smartphone, or other electronic devices for communication. A lot of times, clients provide what we consider an insufficient description of goods and services, so we have to make sure that their application covers everything they need or, on the contrary, does not contain unnecessary classes, as the number of classes affects the final price of the application.
Trama aims to bring innovation to the field of trademark registration. What exactly is Trama doing differently than other trademark registration providers?
I consider Trama as Uber for trademarks. Let me explain. When you are in a new place and have to choose a taxi to take you somewhere, you cannot be sure what the average pricing in that area is. There is a similar issue with legal services and, in particular, trademark registration services. It is not easy to get a clear picture of what service is the best for you because of all the hidden fees. Before Trama, you could take the risk of catching a taxi and seeing the bill at the end of the ride. Now, however, our clients have a chance to compare the prices and make an informed choice with just a couple of clicks. They don’t have to commit to anything. It’s simple, fast and affordable. That’s what Uber did to the taxi business by making it more convenient and transparent. And that’s what Trama is doing to the trademark registration market.
Why do you think it’s so important to make trademarks more widely available?
This was a big part of why I chose to work for Trama. It was the idea of giving a small ice cream trolley, a small business with minimum resources, the same protection as the big corporations. It might sound improbable because people tend to stick to the stereotypes associated with legal services, but it’s definitely not impossible. We are trying to challenge this mindset and prove that every business can be protected, no matter the size.
Would you like to mention any particular trademark application that caught your attention recently?
As I mentioned, I love creativity and innovation. And I love seeing what kind of unique ideas a human mind can come up with. We had one client, a manufacturer of industrial glue. And the trademark they wanted to register was the name of their product, “Glucifer – Sticky as hell.” Whenever I see a trademark like that, it immediately makes my day.
