Keegan & Donato Consulting can help you strengthen your Lanham Act case by conducting a consumer research survey to assess whether an alleged trademark infringement is having a real world impact on consumers.
Keegan & Donato Consulting is a specialty research consultancy that designs and executes consumer-based surveys for attorneys and their clients in cases involving likelihood of confusion, acquired distinctiveness, secondary meaning, and a wide variety of marketing and commercial litigation issues.
We have been engaged by leading IP litigators across the nation, such as Stanley, Mandel & Iola, LLP in San Diego, Pashman Stein in New Jersey, SmithAmundsen LLC in Chicago, and Arent Fox in Washington, DC.
Lanham Act Surveys
The Lanham Act (also known as the Trademark Act) is the federal statute that governs trademarks, service marks, and unfair competition. It is codified in 15 U.S. Code §1125 and sets out procedures for registering trademarks, regulates the use of trademarks in commercial activity, and sets out remedies that can be sought when a trademark is infringed.
The purpose of the Lanham Act is to protect the trademark owner from infringement and unfair competition and the consumer from false or misleading statements about the sources of particular goods or services. The Act establishes a federal cause of action for claims of trademark or trade dress infringement, dilution, false designation of origin, false advertising, and other issues.
The central element of trademark infringement is “likelihood of confusion,” and survey evidence can be a persuasive component of demonstrating that an alleged infringement is having a real-world impact on consumers.
Keegan & Donato Consulting works on a fixed rate or hourly basis depending on the needs of each client, and will help you design a survey that is both reliable and within your budget.
Why Experience Matters
Consumer surveys are the most widely accepted method of proving infringement has occurred, but Courts place great weight on properly conducted surveys. It can be hazardous to rely on inferior or flawed consumer survey evidence.
In Dardenne v. MoveOn.org Civil Action, CIV. A. 14-00150-SDD, 2014 WL 1364854, the Court placed “little weight on the survey results for the reason that the survey’s methodology was fundamentally flawed in both its sampling and the questions employed.”
In Water Pik, Inc. v. Med-Systems, Inc., 726 F.3d 1142, 1144-50 (10th Cir. 2013), there is a lengthy discussion about why the Court determined that survey evidence submitted by the defendant, “Had too many methodological flaws to be of any probative value.”
Consider hiring principals Mark Keegan and Tony Donato who offer clients more than 25 combined years of proven survey methodologies, deep operational insight and broad industry experience. We will document and support the choice of survey questions, select the right universe and sample, minimize the possibility or appearance of bias, and accurately report the data gathered.
Our consumer research surveys have been successfully admitted into evidence in state and federal courts, at arbitration, to the TTAB, the NAD, and other specialty venues. We also have extensive testimony experience.
Get in touch with the experts at Keegan & Donato Consulting at (914) 967-9421. We will work within your budget to deliver the Lanham Act survey results you need to strengthen your trademark infringement litigation.