Whether you are in New York or elsewhere in the U.S., consumer survey experts like Keegan & Donato Consulting can help you develop a powerful case strategy with a reliable, methodologically sound consumer research study.
Keegan & Donato Consulting is a specialty research consultancy and a leading firm in the field of trademark litigation. The firm provides expert research, analysis, affidavits and reports on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants throughout the nation, and has collaborated extensively on cases involving business, marketing, and financial issues.
Value of Consumer Research Studies
Surveys are an invaluable tool for brands who want to gauge consumer perception of products or services; measure consumer understanding of contested marketing claims; assess the buying habits of a target market; test the marketplace for a new brand name, logo or concept; and other key marketing issues.
Keegan & Donato Consulting designs, executes, analyzes, and presents the results of IP litigation surveys, including, but not limited to:
- Likelihood of Confusion
- Secondary Meaning
- Strength of Mark
- Acquired Distinctiveness
- Lanham Act Claims
Our research is focused on collecting empirical data from relevant consumers through methodologically-sound, scientific, industry-accepted principles of survey research.
Is a Consumer Survey Necessary?
The Lanham Act, as codified in 15 U.S. Code §1125, is the statutory basis for most trademark claims. The issues raised are well-suited to testing through consumer survey research by addressing the ways in which consumers interpret—and misinterpret—names, symbols, and other marks used by businesses in commerce. In fact, the resulting evidence can be quite persuasive.
Although nothing in the Lanham Act requires litigants to introduce consumer surveys, a number of court decisions have drawn negative inferences from the absence of survey evidence and discussed how the absence impacted their decisions.
In Pharmacia Corp. v. Alcon Labs, Inc., 201 F.Supp. 2d 335, 373 (D.N.J. 2002), for example, the court noted that, “Pharmacia is not legally required to conduct a confusion survey. But under the circumstances of this case, Pharmacia’s failure to conduct any confusion survey weighs against its request for a preliminary injunction. Such a failure, particularly when the trademark owner is financially able, justifies an inference that the plaintiff believes the results of the survey will be unfavorable.”
Likewise, in King-Size, Inc. v. Frank’s King-Size Clothes, Inc., 547 F.Supp. 1138, 1162 (S.D. Tex. 1982), the court noted that, “Plaintiffs did not present to the Court a survey or any other direct evidence of actual confusion. The Court views these omissions as both suspect and significant.”
Keegan & Donato Consulting has partnered with firms from coast to coast. In New York, we have assisted leading IP firms, such as Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Day Pitney LLP, Duane Morris LLP, and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, on litigation surveys that have been accepted as evidence in matters involving a broad range of products and services.
Hiring qualified consumer survey experts, such as Keegan & Donato Consulting, for your litigation in New York will help ensure that your survey evidence will stand up to judicial scrutiny. Get in touch with us at (914) 967-9421 to learn more about our approach and our affordable services.