Consumer survey experts like Keegan & Donato Consulting can help you understand likelihood of confusion and provide the expertise you need to develop a powerful trademark infringement case strategy.
Keegan & Donato Consulting is a specialty research consultancy and one of the most experienced firms in the field of trademark litigation. We are highly qualified survey experts. Our methodologically sound consumer research studies and expert testimony will meet the courts’ standards for design, execution, and analysis and serve as powerful evidence in your trademark infringement case.
Principals Mark Keegan and Tony Donato have extensive strategic and analytical skills and 25+ years of combined expertise in designing, executing and critiquing consumer research studies in the context of litigation.
What is Confusion?
Trademark owners who claim infringement and unfair competition under the Lanham Act, 15 USC 1114(a)(1) are usually required to establish these two elements:
- that the defendant used the registered mark in commerce;
- that the use of the mark is likely to cause consumer confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive.
When marks are too similar, the allegedly infringing mark may confuse consumers into buying unwanted goods or services, dilute or damage a brand’s reputation, or allow competitors to benefit from another brand’s well-known reputation. The more similar the marks are, the more likely it is that confusion and infringement will occur.
How a Survey Can Help
Keegan & Donato Consulting has conducted and critiqued hundreds of likelihood of confusion studies across industries ranging from designer apparel to high-end audio products and everything in between.
Our surveys address the issue of consumer confusion from a scientific perspective, providing empirical data regarding the extent to which consumers believe that certain brands at issue emanate from the same source or are somehow related. It is this understanding of how consumers view the relationship between brands that forms the basis of a likelihood of confusion analysis.
Should You Hire a Survey Expert?
Surveys are highly susceptible to criticism, and you can expect the courts to scrutinize them for methodological flaws. Sample selection issues, interviewer bias, and suggestive wording often cause judges to attribute little weight to a survey or deem some or all of the results inadmissible.
For this reason, we highly recommend hiring qualified survey experts. Keegan & Donato Consulting’s methodologically sound consumer research studies and expert testimony will meet the courts’ standards for design, execution, and analysis and serve as powerful evidence in your case.
If you are seeking a highly qualified consumer survey expert to help you develop a powerful strategy in your likelihood of confusion litigation, consider Keegan & Donato Consulting. Get in touch with us at (914) 967-9421 to learn more about our wide range of services.