When you need the services of highly qualified trademark survey companies in Knoxville, TN, consider Keegan & Donato Consulting. Our experience in survey design and execution, consumer research, analytical expertise, and the formulation of case strategies in complex litigation can help law firms and their clients prevail in IP litigation.
Keegan & Donato Consulting is a specialty research consultancy and a leading firm in the field of trademark litigation. The firm provides expert research, analysis, affidavits, and reports on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants throughout the nation and has collaborated extensively on cases involving business, marketing, and financial issues.
We specialize in a wide range of trademark and trade-dress analyses and surveys, including:
- Likelihood of Confusion
- Secondary Meaning
- Strength of Mark
- Acquired Distinctiveness
- Lanham Act Claims
- Survey Critiques and Rebuttals
Why Expert Advice is Valuable
Expert advice can be critical for various reasons, such as making the most of fact discovery, framing discovery requests, and identifying issues to investigate in depositions.
Primarily through survey evidence, an expert can help establish whether or not a descriptive mark has acquired secondary meaning, whether or not competing marks are likely to cause consumer confusion, whether or not a mark is famous, and whether or not one brand’s mark is likely to cause dilution to a competing mark.
Selecting the correct type of survey for a case requires skill and experience. Keegan & Donato Consulting approaches survey design on a case-by-case basis since each case is unique. We work closely with clients to understand and appreciate the fundamental issues driving the case and work to maximize the value of the research evidence to the overall case strategy.
Avoid Survey Flaws
Surveys can provide powerful evidence but may be deemed inadmissible or given little weight by the Court if they fail to address the critical issues in a case or are overly broad, even if based on an acceptable methodology.
In Kate Spade LLC v. Saturdays Surf LLC, 950 F.Supp. 2d 639 – Dist. Court, S.D. New York (2013), the Court found limited value in survey evidence presented by both parties and gave them no weight in this infringement litigation. The Court found that the plaintiff’s survey was poorly designed, and the defendant’s survey suffered from methodological flaws that raised “serious questions about the leading nature of the survey design.”
In Elliott v. Google, Inc., 45 F. Supp. 3d 1156 – Dist. Court, D. Arizona (2014), the Court deemed the plaintiff’s surveys inadmissible after deciding they were poorly constructed and unscientific. The Court also determined that the survey expert was “unqualified to design a survey or interpret survey results” [see 45 F.Supp.3d 1167-1170].
Next Steps
As you evaluate trademark survey companies to support your Knoxville, TN, case or to help you contest an infringement allegation, consider Keegan & Donato Consulting. We deliver intelligence quickly within a wide range of budgets to help reinforce your strategy. Contact us today at (914) 967-9421 for more information.