When you face tough evidence in your intellectual property litigation, a qualified trademark survey expert like Keegan & Donato Consulting can help.
About the Firm
Keegan & Donato Consulting, located in historic Rye, New York, is a specialty research consultancy that designs and executes consumer-based surveys for attorneys across the nation and their clients in the context of IP disputes.
Principals Mark Keegan and Tony Donato rely on more than 25 cumulative years of proven survey methodologies, deep operational insight, and vast industry experience, to provide expert research, analysis, affidavits and reports on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants in support of trademark infringement litigation.
The firm has designed hundreds of studies across a wide range of industries to test a wide variety of Lanham Act claims, including likelihood of confusion, strength of mark, acquired distinctiveness, false designation of origin, trade dress infringement, and related areas.
The Damage Survey Flaws Can Cause
An overly broad survey that fails to address the key issues in a case, asks leading, suggestive or ambiguous questions, samples from the wrong geographic area, etc., may be deemed inadmissible or given little weight, even if based on an accepted standard methodology.
For example, in Elliott v. Google, Inc., 45 F. Supp. 3d 1156 – Dist. Court, D. Arizona (2014), the plaintiff’s surveys were deemed inadmissible because the Court determined them to be unscientific and poorly constructed. The survey expert was also rejected as unqualified “to design a survey or to interpret survey results.”
In Water Pik, Inc. v. Med-Systems, Inc., 726 F.3d 1142, 1144-50 (10th Cir. 2013), there is a lengthy discussion about the Court’s conclusion that the defendant’s survey evidence “had too many methodological flaws to be of any probative value.”
Hiring qualified survey experts, such as Keegan & Donato Consulting, will have a significant impact on whether the court deems your survey results admissible. We consider methodological design among the most important aspects of designing a consumer research study.
Our Survey Methodology
We approach survey design and critique on a case-by-case basis, working closely with our clients to understand the key issues driving their case, and working to maximize the value of consumer survey evidence to the overall case strategy.
To satisfy judicial and adversarial scrutiny, we follow survey design, execution and presentation best practices. Our consumer research studies 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.
We utilize an industry-leading online survey software platform that facilitates the programming and execution of sophisticated survey designs, including complex skip logic and advanced rotation and randomization of questions, answer options, and stimuli.
We obtain our survey sample from leading marketing research companies that maintain multi-million-member online consumer panels. They are top providers of survey sample in the U.S. and are used by leading marketing research firms.
Our skillful, objective analysis will ensure the admissibility and persuasiveness of the results and help you develop a powerful case or rebuttal strategy.
As trademark survey experts. Keegan & Donato Consulting provides litigation surveys and expert witness testimony to ensure that the evidence you introduce in your case will hold up to scrutiny from courts and opposing experts. Get in touch with us today at (914) 967-9421 to take advantage of our extensive knowledge and experience.