In an effort to resolve trademark disputes, the use of survey evidence can be indispensable, particularly when the rest of the evidence is unclear. The experts at Keegan & Donato Consulting can help.
Keegan & Donato Consulting, in Rye, New York, is a specialty research consultancy that designs and executes consumer surveys for attorneys and their clients in the context of intellectual property disputes. Mark Keegan and Tony Donato offer over 25 years of combined experience in the consumer research field.
How Keegan & Donato Consulting Can Help
The firm has designed consumer research studies for clients in many different industries.
We obtain high-quality information from a representative sample of the targeted population and have strict procedures in place to minimize biases in the data collection. We acquire survey samples from prominent marketing research companies that maintain multi-million-member online consumer panels.
We have developed surveys for many of the top IP litigation firms in the nation, including Arnold Porter LLP in San Francisco, Fox Rothschild LLP in New Jersey and Philadelphia, Hogan Lovells in Washington, DC, Day Pitney LLP in New York City, and SmithAmundsen LLC in Chicago.
Good survey evidence can be powerful and compelling, but consumer surveys are not usually accepted by the Court without challenge. Courts are seeking accurate, real-world data. Poor designs and methodological flaws often result in the partial or full exclusion of survey evidence from a case.
For example, in Parks, LLC v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 2015 WL 4545408, No. 5:15–cv–00946 (District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania. May 10, 2016), plaintiff Parks claimed that the defendant’s “Park’s Finest” sausages and hot dogs infringed upon its “Ball Park Franks” brand.
The Court criticized methodological flaws in the Parks survey, stating that it “was not probative of secondary meaning” and “was not directed at the appropriate universe of consumers.” Tyson Foods introduced a consumer survey that demonstrated little evidence of consumer confusion between its Park’s Finest sausages and Parks brand sausages, and Tyson Foods prevailed.
Our Survey Methodology
Surveys designed and conducted by Keegan & Donato Consulting consist of objective, non-leading questions directed to an appropriate universe of consumers.
Our state-of-the-art survey designs are probative of the relevant issues in each case and can target specific consumer populations with appropriate universe selection and sampling frames, as well as cutting-edge rotation and randomization of hundreds of question types with customizable skip and display logic when applicable.
Mr. Keegan and Mr. Donato also have substantial testimony experience as expert witnesses in high-profile cases involving consumer behavior and trademark infringement. We have provided reports, affidavits, declarations, survey research, and expert witness testimony in support of litigation in federal and state courts, the TTAB, the NAB, at arbitration, and at other specialty venues.
Call Keegan & Donato Consulting at (914) 967-9421 to find out how using experts and consumer survey evidence can help you resolve trademark disputes by presenting fact-based evidence in support of your position.