Trademark infringement is on the rise. If you are looking for a trademark survey expert to assist with your IP litigation in Tampa, consider Keegan & Donato Consulting. Our trademark litigation surveys and expert witness testimony will help ensure that the evidence you introduce in your case holds up to scrutiny from courts and opposing experts.
Keegan & Donato Consulting is a specialty research consultancy and one of the most experienced firms in the field of trademark litigation.
With a combined 25-plus years of experience in conducting consumer research studies, as well as membership in the International Trademark Association (INTA), the American Marketing Association (AMA), the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), and ESOMAR, the leading global association for market, social and opinion researchers, principals Mark Keegan and Tony Donato offer skills and tools that can help you strengthen your case.
Do You Need a Trademark Survey Expert?
Surveys are valuable tools in trademark litigation because they provide insight into actual consumer perceptions, often when no other scientific evidence is available, and may help you build a stronger case.
You may decide to proceed without survey evidence. Perhaps the client cannot afford to invest in a survey. Perhaps your pilot survey produced insufficient results. Or, perhaps your adversary presented a flawed consumer survey that you hope a rebuttal expert can critique without having to conduct another survey.
It can be hazardous, however, to proceed in a trademark infringement matter without survey evidence that is designed and executed by trained independent experts using sound methodologies.
In Valador, Inc v. HTC Corporation, 1:16-cv-1162 – Dist. Court, E.D. VA (2017), for example, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant, one of the world’s largest cell phone makers, violated its trademark on 3-D rendering software (“VIVE”) by marketing a virtual reality headset with a similar name (“HTC Vive”).
To support a likelihood of confusion claim, the plaintiff hired a consultant who claimed to be an expert in marketing, marketing research, and conducting market surveys, but who turned out not to be qualified.
The Court excluded the survey results in their entirety, determining that the expert was “not qualified to present his proffered opinions,” and finding that the survey “(1) failed to evaluate the proper universe of respondents; (2) did not replicate market conditions; (3) neglected to use a control group; (4) eschewed the recognized methodologies for conducting trademark confusion surveys; and (5) asked improperly leading questions. These fundamental flaws, taken together, render the survey so unreliable as to be inadmissible.”
A trademark survey expert like Keegan & Donato Consulting can provide the expertise you need to develop a powerful trademark infringement case strategy in Tampa. Contact us at (914) 967-9421 to explore our capabilities.