Trade Mark and Rights Holders Against Piracy (T.R.A.P) was founded in 2003 as a non profit marking organisation and was formed to protect the rights of member companies, particularly in relation to the illegal sale of counterfeit product. The organisation has initially been formed for the protection of the music merchandising industry, although interest in joining has been expressed by other merchandise sectors, including toy manufacturers, sports/leisure merchandisers and high street retailers. The founder members of TRAP are an alliance of the major music merchandise companies, responsible for approximately eighty-five percent of the legitimate merchandise business in the UK.

The organisation aims to identify infringing activities and the individual and/or companies behind such activities, obtain significant levels of evidence of those activities and then enforce criminal and civil remedies against them using trade marks, design right, copyright and trade description legislation. The merchandising profession held an industry wide seminar in November 2002 at which the problems were identified, loss/damage quantified and legal solutions provided as to how an effective and coordinated approach could be taken to the infringement problem. The solution was to form a rights body to act as a representative trade association on behalf of the business. Accordingly, TRAP was formed.

TRAP works closely in partnership with enforcement agencies, authorities, trade associations and other anti-counterfeit organisation on matters such as education, prevention and enforcement as well as seeking to provide information and education to concert venues, retail stores and the general public.