The Trasomark Model (we charge an annual modest fee to act as your advisor for your trademark journey) is rather innovative. While we are external to you (we are not your employee), we are also your internal advisor because our interests will be closely aligned with yours (our charges simply won’t be increased regardless of any next step you will take).
To come up with this idea, we can’t thank more for a substandard agent. Sadly enough, the story of Trasomark started with a real-life mis-managed trademark filing campaign.
Lansbury has been running an OEM textile factory in China for years with tremendous success. However, with the ever-increasing costs in China marrying with the costs pressure from end clients, Lansbury started to reshape his business and determine to build his own fashion brand “ABC & Device” to try to get ahead of the game again. Although branding is new to Lansbury, the trade mark was something straightly sprung into his mind (see also New to Trademark?).
Unlike the smart you, Lansbury has not thought about DIY his trademark filings. Instead, after obtaining a few quotations from the internet, Lansbury has naturally chosen agent Y who offered the lowest costs. Early signs were in fact promising. After initial payments, Lansbury received trademark filing reports from Hong Kong, China, Europe, and the United States in turn. A few months later, the Hong Kong application matured into registration, which appeared to further assure that the trademark filings would be in safe hands with agent Y.
A good moment does not last long. A month later, agent Y reported to Lansbury an official objection in China citing an earlier mark with a similar device and only briefly suggested filing an appeal at US$1,000.00 without any explanation and estimated prospect. Lansbury was certainly not very pleased but did not have much idea about how to turn things around. Luckily, he met his niece Jenny (a trademark lawyer) at a family gathering and incidentally talked about his roller-coaster trademark journey. Jenny immediately reviewed the papers and advised Lansbury that filing an appeal may well be a waste of money. Instead, Jenny suggested taking away the “device” (the main reason for the official objection) and filing a new trademark application for the “ABC” mark at a cost of US$500.00. Better prospect at lower costs, what a deal! Lansbury was very thankful to Jenny and “begged” her to help monitor his trademark filings.
Another month passed, and agent Y brought the good news that the US application was accepted, and asked Lansbury to provide evidence of intended use so that they can prepare a statutory declaration at a cost of US$1,000.00 for registration purposes. Jenny was rather surprised and queried why the US trademark application was not filed on the “foreign registration basis” in the first place to skip all the troubles of locating evidence and of course the costs. While agent Y initially offered to charge a handsome fee of US$700.00 for changing the basis (from “intended to use” to “foreign registration”), it bowed to the strong pressure from Jenny and agreed to change the filing basis complimentarily.
So, this is how Lansbury’s story inspired us to build the Trasomark Model. We felt for Lansbury and cannot stomach any impotency when we talk about something so professional like trademarks. You can also observe that the issue of “not knowing a problem” is rather acute. When you do not realize that two filing bases are available for US trademark applications, how can you make the right choice yourself (when DIY your trademark application) or make enquires with your agent (when engaging an agent) for your best interests? To minimize this risk, reputable IP law firms should be your safest option. Budget could however be a concern, and attention may not be sufficiently given even if the small player like you is happy to pay.
Trasomark can guide you safely through your trademark journey at modest costs, or at the very least your “issue-identifier”. With Trasomark, your engaged agent will probably become more attentive and provide better services.
