When your case in Warren, MI, requires a methodologically sound consumer survey, specialty research companies like Keegan & Donato Consulting can help. We have designed hundreds of studies across a wide range of industries.
Keegan & Donato Consulting, located in Rye, New York, serves clients across the nation. We work on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants to provide research, analysis, affidavits, declarations, expert reports, and rebuttal reports as needed in support of trademark infringement and trade-dress litigation, and have collaborated extensively on cases involving a wide range of marketing, business and financial issues.
Our firm has been engaged by firms that manage some of the largest trademark portfolios in the world, such as Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in Boston, Notaro, Michalos & Zaccaria PC in New Jersey, Day Pitney LLP in New York City, and Giampolo Law Group in Philadelphia.
How Consumer Research Can Help
Consumer survey research consists of sampling from a large group of relevant consumers and asking them carefully constructed questions to elicit opinions about a certain topic or topics.
Surveys can be used to test a wide variety of Lanham Act claims to establish whether or not competing marks are likely to confuse consumers; whether or not a descriptive mark has acquired secondary meaning; whether or not a mark is famous; and whether or not one brand’s mark is likely to cause dilution to a competing mark.
Studies can also be conducted to examine issues such as the extent to which marketing claims influence consumer demand for a product, how marketing communications impact consumer likelihood of purchase, and the relationship between marketing communications and the consumer’s willingness to pay a premium for a product.
When properly designed and executed, these studies yield highly reliable data that can be projected to the studied population as a whole. In many instances, the most persuasive evidence comes from a consumer research study.
Do You Really Need a Consumer Survey?
While nothing in the Lanham Act requires consumer surveys to be introduced in disputes, they can serve as persuasive evidence of whether an advertisement or trademark causes consumers to be confused or misled. However, surveys must be well-designed and scientifically sound, or they may be given little weight by the court or partially or completed excluded.
For example, in First Data Merchant Services Corp. v. SecurityMetrics, Inc., No. RDB–12–2568, 2014 WL 6871581 (D. Md. Dec. 3, 2014), the report, opinions, and testimony of the defendant’s survey expert were excluded by the Court from the false advertising portion of the case due to the expert’s failure to use a control to test for consumer confusion (a “significant flaw”), and “several other troubling aspects” of its methodology.
When you need a consumer survey to strengthen your case in Warren, MI, experienced companies like Keegan & Donato Consulting can help. Get in touch with us at (914) 967-9421 to learn more.