If you are interested in surveys and rebuttals for your trademark infringement cases, take advantage of the extraordinary expertise of Keegan & Donato Consulting.
We provide service to attorneys practicing in federal and state courts, before arbitration panels, the TTAB, the NAD, and other specialty venues.
Offering three decades of combined experience, principals Mark Keegan and Tony Donato have extensive backgrounds in designing, executing, analyzing, and critiquing consumer research studies. We perform analyses, help clients develop damages claims, critique opposition expert reports, assist with witness preparation, and provide expert witness testimony.
Our nationwide services include these and other areas:
- State-of-the-art survey design and execution
- Full-service data gathering and reporting capabilities
- Damages analysis and forensic economic analysis
- Pilot studies and exploratory research
- Collaboration on complex commercial litigation issues
- Critique and rebuttal of opposing experts’ studies and reports
- Advice on questioning of opposing experts in deposition and at trial
- Expert witness testimony on matters related to consumer surveys, marketing, and economic issues
Keegan & Donato Consulting is a specialty research consultancy. We are members of INTA (International Trademark Association), ACR (Association for Consumer Research), AAPOR (American Association for Public Opinion Research), AMA (American Marketing Association), and ESOMAR, the leading global association for market, social and opinion researchers. We also offer other skills and tools that may help strengthen your case.
Hiring qualified survey experts, such as Keegan & Donato Consulting, will significantly impact whether the court deems your survey results admissible. We consider methodological design among the most critical aspects of designing a consumer research study.
Why Expert Advice is Valuable
Expert advice can be critical for several reasons, such as making the most of fact discovery, framing discovery requests, and identifying issues to investigate in depositions.
Through survey evidence, an expert can often help establish whether a descriptive mark has acquired secondary meaning, whether competing marks are likely to confuse consumers, whether or not a mark is famous, and whether one brand’s mark is likely to dilute a competing mark.
While nothing in the Lanham Act requires consumer surveys to be introduced in disputes, they can serve as persuasive evidence of whether an advertisement or trademark is likely to cause consumers to be confused or misled. However, consumer surveys must be well-designed and scientifically sound, or they may be given little weight by the court or partially or completed excluded.
Survey Critique and Rebuttal
With unparalleled knowledge of the science and methodology surrounding trademark surveys, Mr. Keegan and Mr. Donato offer extensive experience in critique and rebuttal that cover a wide range of issues.
When clients are confronted with a consumer study that appears well-executed and convincing, we have the ability to identify small and large methodological flaws and provide expert analysis that could bolster your case. We may examine the following:
- Survey methodology and design
- Credentials and training of opposing experts
- Question type, wording, ordering, and structure
- The process used to define the survey universe
- The sampling frame used to identify the population
- How survey respondents were screened and selected
- Procedures used to minimize potential data collection biases
- How the survey data was analyzed and reported
When you need litigation surveys and rebuttals for trademark infringement cases, Keegan & Donato Consulting will provide the expertise you need. Contact us at (914) 967-9421 to learn more.