If you are looking for trademark survey companies to help support an allegation of infringement or dispute the results of an adversary’s survey in Springfield, IL, or elsewhere in the nation, consider the exceptional expertise of Keegan & Donato Consulting.
The firm, located in Rye, New York, has designed, executed, presented, and refuted many surveys that have been admitted into evidence in federal and state courts, before arbitration panels, the TTAB, the NAD, and other venues.
The vast experience of Keegan & Donato Consulting includes conducting consumer surveys to test a wide variety of Lanham Act claims, such as likelihood of confusion, secondary meaning, strength of mark, acquired distinctiveness, trade dress, and others, false and deceptive advertising, consumer perception, and expert witness testimony on consumer survey, marketing, and economic issues.
Our Survey Specialties
Consumer surveys designed and executed by the Keegan & Donato team will ensure that the evidence you introduce in your trademark infringement case holds up to scrutiny from courts and opposing experts.
Confusion: The main objective of a trademark is to prevent consumer confusion. However, some confusion is inevitable based on the growing number of brands competing for share of mind in the marketplace. A well-executed standard or custom survey from Keegan & Donato Consulting can help determine whether consumers are confused.
Secondary Meaning: Most descriptive marks are not protectable as trademarks if they have not acquired a secondary meaning. Our surveys target relevant consumers in your client’s market and can help you determine the extent to which consumers associate a contested mark with one or more sources.
Strength of Mark: The “strength” of a trademark affects the legal protections available to a mark holder. Fanciful, arbitrary, and suggestive terms are usually inherently distinctive and afforded various trademark protections. Descriptive marks, however, cannot usually achieve trademark protection as they lack sufficient distinction for consumers to associate them with a single source.
Dilution: Trademark dilution occurs when an infringing party uses a famous mark in a manner that tarnishes its reputation for quality or dilutes its strength by blurring its distinctiveness. A survey can directly measure consumer recognition of a famous mark.
False Advertising: Lanham Act issues, such as false advertising or labeling, are well-suited to testing through consumer surveys by addressing how consumers interpret – and misinterpret – names, symbols, and other marks used by businesses in commerce.
Trade Dress: Trade dress, like a trademark, is protectable under the Lanham Act. Conducting a consumer survey can help you gather the evidence to prove whether the trade dress in question has established secondary meaning or is likely to cause confusion in the marketplace.
Final Thoughts
The expertise of trademark survey companies like Keegan & Donato Consulting can significantly impact your client’s case in Springfield, IL. We can quickly deliver intelligence within a wide range of budgets to help bolster your strategy. Contact us today at (914) 967-9421 to learn more.