To ensure the admissibility of your trademark consumer survey, hire an expert. Keegan & Donato Consulting is a specialty research consultancy and one of the most experienced companies in the field of trademark litigation.
The firm provides service to attorneys practicing in federal and state courts, in front of arbitration panels, the TTAB, the NAD, and other specialty venues. Principals Mark Keegan and Tony Donato offer clients more than 30 combined years of proven survey methodologies, deep operational insight, and broad industry experience.
We will:
- execute surveys with rigorous methodological principles
- document and support our choice of survey questions and sample methods
- minimize the possibility of bias
- carefully analyze the data
- support the results with knowledgeable, reliable expert testimony
At Keegan & Donato Consulting, our team can help you solve your biggest litigation challenges with actionable insight gained from a consumer survey designed by highly qualified experts who can quickly deliver intelligence within a wide range of budgets.
How a Survey Expert Can Help
Surveys are highly susceptible to criticism. You can expect the courts to scrutinize them for methodological flaws such as leading, suggestive or ambiguous questions; under-inclusive or over-inclusive sampling of the consumer universe; or sampling from the wrong geographic area. These flaws may cause a judge to attribute little weight to the survey or deem some or all of it inadmissible.
For example, in Water Pik, Inc. v. Med-Systems, Inc., 726 F.3d 1142, 1144-50 (10th Cir. 2013), there is an extensive discussion wherein the Court excludes the defendant’s survey evidence after concluding that it “had too many methodological flaws to be of any probative value.”
In Dardenne v. MoveON.org, Civil Action No. 14-00150-SDD-SCR, Dist. Court, M.D. Louisiana (2014), the Court placed “little weight on the (plaintiff’s) survey results for the reason that the survey’s methodology was fundamentally flawed in both its sampling and the questions employed.”
Our Methodology
Unless a consumer survey is designed correctly, even the best expert will be unable to make it support your trademark infringement claims.
Keegan & Donato Consulting utilizes an industry-leading online survey software platform to design and execute state-of-the-art surveys that stand up to judicial scrutiny.
Our survey designs are probative of the relevant issues in each case, can target specific consumer populations with appropriate universe selection and sampling frames, and feature cutting-edge rotation and randomization of hundreds of question types with customizable complex skip and display logic when applicable.
Expert Witness Testimony
If you need an expert when the facts and issues of your case are not easily understood or when a court would benefit from empirical evidence related to issues in the case, Mr. Keegan and Mr. Donato have testimony experience as expert witnesses in many high-profile cases involving consumer behavior and trademark infringement.
Final Thoughts
If you are concerned about the admissibility of consumer surveys in your trademark infringement cases, Keegan & Donato Consulting can deliver the assistance you need. Call us today at (914) 967-9421.