Customized surveys for trademark cases are a powerful tool that can significantly impact your litigation. They provide valuable data and insights, support your arguments, and offer strategic advantages for your brand. When general market research data fails to accurately reflect the nuances of your case, customized surveys from the Keegan & Donato Consulting team can help.
About Us
Keegan & Donato Consulting designs and executes consumer surveys and collaborates on various marketing and complex litigation issues. We offer more than 30 combined years of experience in conducting consumer research studies in the context of I.P. disputes and provide services nationwide, including the following:
- Likelihood of Confusion Analysis & Surveys
- Secondary Meaning Analysis & Surveys
- Strength of Mark Analysis & Surveys
- Lanham Act Analysis & Surveys
- Trade Dress Analysis & Surveys
- False & Deceptive Advertising Surveys
- Consumer Perception Analysis & Surveys
- Marketing, damages, and forensic economic analyses
- Expert Witness Testimony
- Critique / rebuttal of studies and reports from opposing experts
- Advice on questioning of opposing experts at deposition and trial
Mr. Keegan is an AMA Professional Certified Marketer. He has worked with top brands as a marketing strategist, helping to position them in the market and creating innovative online advertising solutions. Mr. Keegan and Mr. Donato have wide-ranging skills and tools that can help you strengthen your case.
Prevent Problems by Hiring Qualified Survey Experts
Survey evidence can be a persuasive piece of your overall case strategy, but it will receive critical attention from the court and may be given little weight or excluded from evidence if it is poorly designed or contains mistakes.
In Valador, Inc v. HTC Corporation, Case No. 1:16-cv-1162 Dist. Court, E.D. Virginia (2017), the plaintiff alleged that the defendants infringed on its registered mark, “VIVE,” used in connection with the sale of its software by selling a headset they named the “HTC Vive.”
The plaintiff hired an expert to conduct a survey to support its likelihood of confusion claim. The defendant argued that the survey testimony should be excluded because the expert was unqualified and used unreliable survey methods and principles to reach his conclusions.
The court agreed and granted the motion to exclude the survey results. “These fundamental flaws, taken together, render the survey so unreliable as to be inadmissible:
- [The survey] failed to evaluate the proper universe of respondents,
- did not replicate market conditions,
- neglected to use a control group,
- eschewed the recognized methodologies for conducting trademark confusion surveys and
- asked improperly leading questions.”
The court determined that the plaintiff’s expert “was not qualified to design a survey or interpret survey results” because he “lacked the necessary experience with trademark infringement claims.”
Conclusion
Take control of your trademark cases with customized surveys from Keegan & Donato Consulting that provide precise and reliable data. You’ll be able to make informed decisions and strengthen your arguments. We conduct our surveys with meticulous attention to industry best practices for methodology. Call us today at (914) 967-9421 to find out how we can help.