As one of the nation’s top trademark survey companies, Keegan & Donato Consulting offers a combination of strategic and analytical expertise that can help you develop a powerful trademark infringement case in Hartford, CT.
Located in Rye, New York, Keegan & Donato Consulting offers a wide range of services to plaintiff and defendant clients, including consultation on litigation strategy, consumer research studies, testimony in trademark and trade dress litigation, testimony at deposition and/or trial, expert reports, and rebuttal of opposing parties’ surveys when applicable.
We are members of the International Trademark Association (INTA), the American Marketing Association (AMA), the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), the Association for Consumer Research (ACR), and ESOMAR, the leading global association for market, social and opinion researchers. The firm also offers other skills and tools that can help you strengthen your case.
Could a Consumer Survey Help Your Case?
Hiring qualified consumer 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.
In Water Pik, Inc. v. Med-Systems, Inc., 726 F.3d 1142, 1144-50 (10th Cir. 2013), there is a lengthy discussion wherein the Court concludes that the defendant’s survey evidence “had too many methodological flaws to be of any probative value.”
In Parks, LLC v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 2015 WL 4545408, No. 5:15–cv–00946 (E.D. PA. May 10, 2016), plaintiff Parks claimed that the defendant’s “Park’s Finest” sausages and hot dogs infringed on its “Ball Park Franks” brand. The Court was critical of methodological flaws in a consumer survey submitted by Parks. It “was not probative of secondary meaning” and “was not directed at the appropriate universe of consumers.” Tyson Foods introduced a consumer survey that showed little evidence of consumer confusion between its Park’s Finest sausages and Parks brand sausages. Tyson Foods prevailed.
Before you consider proceeding without a survey, consider that courts have also drawn negative inferences from the absence of survey evidence. In Pharmacia Corp. v. Alcon Labs, Inc., 201 F.Supp. 2d 335, 373 (D.N.J. 2002), for example, the court noted that, “Pharmacia is not legally required to conduct a confusion survey. But … such a failure, particularly when the trademark owner is financially able, justifies an inference that the plaintiff believes the results of the survey will be unfavorable.”
These examples illustrate how important it is to hire a qualified survey expert who will be able to withstand cross-examination and explain his or her survey methodology in a clear and concise manner.
If you are looking for highly qualified consumer survey companies to assist you with proving trademark infringement in Hartford, CT, call Keegan & Donato Consulting at (914) 967-9421. We will help you design a reliable, methodologically sound survey to support your case.