Paul is an intellectual property attorney-at-law specializing in soft IP, with a primary focus on pan-European and cross-border matters. His expertise spans both litigation and strategic advisory work in trademark, design, copyright, and trade secrets, with additional experience in domain names, unfair competition, misleading advertising and artificial intelligence.
With extensive experience managing complex disputes, he handles various litigation cases, including pre-trial actions such as ex parte injunctions and evidentiary seizures. His practice is grounded in delivering pragmatic and effective solutions tailored to client needs, whether in court or through proactive IP strategy.
Paul often gives presentations about various subjects, such as anti-counterfeiting, trade secrets and AI. He is also a speaker at the Academie voor de Rechtspraktijk, where he gives a bi-annual update on trademark case-law.
‘Paul Trapman and Willem Leppink deliver high-quality legal services. Quick to answer and explain clearly. They are committed to understanding the individual needs of each client. A wonderful team for IP matters in the Netherlands.’ - Legal 500 EMEA 2025
In 2019, Paul completed the Master's degree in Information Law at the Institute for Information Law of the University of Amsterdam. He wrote his thesis on the impact of the 'upload filter' following clause 17 of the DSM Directive on user generated content platforms. In addition to his studies, Paul completed several internships, including at a niche intellectual property law firm and at Ploum. In addition, Paul was closely involved in founding a Fintech start-up during his studies. In 2018, Paul started working at Ploum during his studies. Since September 2019, he has been working at Ploum as a legal consultant and since January 1, 2020 as an attorney-at-law.
Paul is a member of the MARQUES Cyberspace team. In 2024, he completed the postgraduate course in intellectual property law and was recognized by IP STARS (Managing IP) as a Rising Star for the second consecutive year. He was also shortlisted as Rising Star of the year 2024.
Paul is also a member of various associations, such as MARQUES, VIEPA, INTA, BMM and AIPPI.
Paul Trapman has registered the following principal (and secondary) legal practice areas in the Netherlands Bar’s register of legal practice areas (rechtsgebiedenregister):
Based on this registration, Paul Trapman is required to obtain ten training credits per calendar year in each registered principal legal practice area in accordance with the standards set by the Netherlands Bar.
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