Courts often regard survey results as powerful evidence in trademark litigation. Companies like Keegan & Donato Consulting can help ensure that the survey evidence you introduce in your Denver case will be reliable and will hold up to scrutiny from courts and opposing experts.
Experience and Sound Methodology
The principals of Keegan & Donato Consulting – Mark Keegan and Tony Donato – offer plaintiffs and defendants a combined 25 years of experience in consumer research studies in the context of intellectual property disputes.
We have designed hundreds of consumer research studies across a wide range of industries for prestigious IP litigation firms throughout the nation, such as Arnold & Porter LLP in San Francisco, Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles, Pashman Stein in New Jersey, and Reed Smith LLP in Chicago.
The firm is a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA), the American Marketing Association (AMA), and ESOMAR, the foremost professional organization for market, social and opinion researchers.
Our surveys have been accepted as evidence in matters involving likelihood of confusion, secondary meaning, strength of mark, acquired distinctiveness, consumer perception, dilution, and other Lanham Act issues in the context of trademark and trade-dress litigation.
Keegan & Donato Consulting adheres to survey design, execution and presentation best practices. Our consumer surveys direct objective, non-leading questions to an appropriate universe of consumers. Procedures are in place to minimize potential biases in data collection, and services include a full analysis and reporting of survey data.
What Can Trademark Surveys Measure?
Consumer research studies can be very useful in attempting to measure a number of issues related to intellectual property matters because they can provide crucial information about how consumers perceive marks, product designs, colors, websites, and other stimuli.
Likelihood of confusion is one of the most common issues in trademark infringement cases. When too similar to an established mark, an allegedly infringing mark may confuse consumers into purchasing unwanted brands. A well-designed survey can provide direct scientific evidence of the extent to which consumers are confused by a perceived similarity between the parties’ marks, brands or products.
Secondary meaning occurs when consumers associate an otherwise descriptive mark with a single source. It can be measured by means of a consumer survey, and may provide a strong indication that a mark is no longer descriptive and has become a distinctive identifier of a brand in the minds of consumers.
Acquired distinctiveness can also be measured with consumer data. When a mark acquires distinctiveness, it becomes capable of serving as a trademark by associating in the mind of consumers with a particular source of goods and services.
Dilution occurs when the strength of a famous mark is diluted by tarnishing its reputation or blurring its distinctiveness. Survey evidence can be used to show whether or not consumers make an association between the junior and senior users of the mark and/or whether they perceive the famous mark less favorably.
Keegan & Donato Consulting has designed and critiqued hundreds of consumer research studies across a broad range of industries for cases in federal court, state court, the TTAB, the NAD, arbitration hearings, and other specialty venues.
As you search for trademark survey companies to assist you with litigation in Denver or anywhere else in the country, it is crucial to choose one that will meet the courts’ standards for design, execution and analysis. Get in touch with Keegan & Donato Consulting at (914) 967-9421 to find out how we can help.