Incorporating a consumer survey into trademark litigation should be a primary consideration in developing your case strategy. Keegan & Donato Consulting can design a study to target relevant consumers in your client’s market and determine how they perceive your client’s brand.
Keegan & Donato Consulting is located in beautiful Rye, New York, and 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 marketing, business and financial issues.
With over 25 combined years of experience in conducting consumer research studies, and membership in the International Trademark Association (INTA), the American Marketing Association (AMA), and ESOMAR, the leading global association for market, social and opinion researchers, we have wide-ranging skills and tools that can help you strengthen your case.
Likelihood of Confusion
When two marks are too similar, an infringing junior mark may confuse consumers into purchasing unwanted brands, damage or dilute a brand’s reputation, or allow competitors to benefit from the reputation of an established brand. A likelihood of confusion survey addresses the issue of consumer confusion from a scientific perspective, providing empirical data regarding the extent to which consumers believe that brands at issue emanate from the same source or are somehow related.
Secondary Meaning
Descriptive marks are not ordinarily protectable as trademarks. When, over time, the consuming public comes to identify trademarks that consist of ordinary words with a certain product, the mark is said to have acquired secondary meaning. When this happens, a descriptive mark that was not able to be registered initially may be entitled to protection even though it is sometimes used by consumers in a generic sense.
Dilution
Trademark dilution issues focus on protecting a famous mark that is inherently distinctive or has acquired distinctiveness. If it can be shown that consumers widely recognize the famous mark as a designation of the source of the goods or services advertised, there is likelihood that a second user’s similar mark will cause dilution and injury to the famous mark’s reputation. Because there are a variety of approaches to substantiating a claim of dilution, Keegan & Donato Consulting works closely with clients to understand the fundamental issues of their unique cases.
False Advertising
The false advertising section of the Lanham Act gives competitors a cause of action against rivals who engage in misleading advertising or labeling. Issues raised in the Lanham Act are particularly well-suited to testing through consumer research by addressing the ways in which consumers interpret—and misinterpret—names, symbols, and other marks used by businesses in commerce.
When your trademark litigation requires precise, reliable data from consumer survey experts, Keegan & Donato Consulting is the best choice. Get in touch with us today at (914) 967-9421 to find out how we can help you strengthen your case.