Have you thought about proceeding with trademark litigation without a consumer survey? Research and methodologically sound surveys from Keegan & Donato Consulting experts will help you build a stronger case. Surveys are valuable because they provide insight into what consumers are actually thinking, often when no other scientific evidence is available.
Keegan & Donato Consulting is a specialty research consultancy that can advise you on the best approach to consumer surveys for trademark litigation and ensure that your survey evidence will stand up to judicial scrutiny.
Our firm has wide-ranging experience in the design, execution, and presentation of consumer surveys that have been admitted as evidence in state and federal courts, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), arbitration hearings, and other specialty venues. Principals Mark Keegan and Tony Donato also have extensive testimony experience.
Trademarks 101
A trademark is a word, slogan, symbol, design, or logo used in conjunction with the sale of products or services to identify one company’s products and distinguish them from those of another company. A service mark is a trademark that is used in association with services instead of goods.
Examples of trademarks include Nike®, the golden arches design of McDonald’s®, the “It’s finger lickin’ good!”® slogan, and the Coca-Cola® bottle design. An example of a service trademark is FEDEX® for shipping and transportation services.
Registering your trademark or service mark gives you legal ownership to the symbol, phrase, logo, or design, and you will be the only business that has the right to use the mark in all 50 states.
Trademark Litigation Research
Once you’ve registered a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you must protect it from infringement by other entities.
According to the USPTO, “trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark on or in connection with goods and/or services in a manner that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of the goods and/or services.”
Courts often consider consumer surveys to be powerful evidence of consumer confusion in trademark infringement litigation and TTAB proceedings. However, the surveys must be designed according to scientific and accepted research principles for a court to consider them relevant and reliable.
Keegan & Donato Consulting can help you resolve your most complex intellectual property litigation challenges with insight from a consumer survey designed by highly qualified experts who can quickly deliver intelligence within a wide range of budgets.
In conjunction with litigation, our team designs, executes, analyzes, and presents the results of trademark surveys in these and other areas:
- Likelihood of Confusion
- Strength of Mark
- Secondary Meaning
- Acquired Distinctiveness
- Strength of Mark
- Lanham Act Claims
If you are seeking trademark survey companies to help support or contest an allegation of infringement in your case, you will appreciate Keegan & Donato Consulting’s expertise in trademark litigation research and consumer surveys. Contact us at (914) 967-9421 to explore our capabilities.