When you need experts with incomparable skills in designing and implementing trademark surveys, get in touch with Keegan & Donato Consulting to explore our capabilities.
Offering over three decades of combined experience, principals Mark Keegan and Tony Donato have extensive backgrounds in the design, execution, analysis, presentation, and critique of consumer research studies. We perform analyses, help clients develop damages claims, critique opposition expert reports, assist with witness preparation, and provide expert witness testimony.
We take all necessary steps to ensure that our consumer research studies have a solid methodological foundation that can withstand the rigors of litigation. We have designed, executed, and critiqued hundreds of surveys that have been admitted into evidence in federal and state courts, before arbitration panels, the TTAB, the NAD, and other venues.
Our Survey Principles
Courts often find that trademark surveys contain significant flaws, such as asking leading, suggestive or ambiguous questions, under-inclusive or over-inclusive sampling of the consumer universe, sampling from the wrong geographic area, and so on. These flaws can reduce or destroy the credibility of the survey.
Consider, for example, First Data Merchant Services Corp. v. SecurityMetrics, Inc., No. RDB–12–2568, 2014 WL 6871581 (D. Md. Dec. 3, 2014), in which the Court excluded the report, opinions, and testimony of the defendant’s survey expert 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.
Keegan & Donato Consulting follows established principles of consumer survey research starting with a rigorous and valid survey design that explores the relevant issues in the case. Some of the industry best practices we build into our survey designs include:
- Properly defined universe selection and sampling frame;
- Rigorous and valid survey design that is probative of the relevant issues in the case;
- Inclusion of representative, qualified respondents;
- Use of procedures to minimize potential biases in data collection;
- Use of clear, precise, non-leading questions;
- Use of procedures to reduce guessing among respondents; and
- Full analysis and reporting of the data gathered.
In addition, we use an industry-leading online survey software platform which facilitates the programming and execution of advanced survey designs, including complex skip logic and advanced rotation and randomization of questions, answer options, and stimuli. These features are employed whenever appropriate.
We obtain our survey sample from leading marketing research companies that maintain multi-million-member online consumer panels. These companies are top providers of survey sample in the U.S. and are used by prominent marketing research firms.
Trademark surveys are highly susceptible to criticism from opponents and the courts. Keegan & Donato Consulting builds best practices into designing and implementing surveys to ensure that the evidence you introduce in your infringement case will hold up to scrutiny. Contact us today at (914) 967-9421 to learn more.