Survey Percentages in Lanham Act Matters

AuthorGerald L. Ford
Pages311-327
311
14
Survey Percentages in
Lanham Act Matters
By Gerald L. Ford
INTRODUCTION
Lanham Actcasesinvolving likelihood of confusion, secondary
meaning, genericness,falseadvertising, fame, and likelihood of
dilution areaddressed in the courts byareviewof avariety of factors,
including surveyevidence. Increasingly,surveyevidence of the state
of mind ormental associationsand/orreactionsof purchasers and
potential purchasers hasbecome an importantfactorin Lanham Act
matters. 1The increaseinthe volume of surveyevidence offered to
representthe stateofmind ormental associationsand/orreactionsof
purchasers and potential purchasers appears tohaveits roots in the 1960
publication of the Handbook of Recommended Practices for the Trial of
Protracted Cases (the predecessorpublication towhatweknowtoday
asthe Manual for Complex Litigation bythe Federal Judicial Center,
1. TJ. MC,MC T UC
a32:158 (4thed. 2008).
The views expressed in thisarticle arenotnecessarilythoseofFordBubala &
Associatesorits clients.Dr.Fordwould like tothank Dr.AnnaBelle Sartoreand Sherry
Laufenburgerfortheirsignificantcontributionstothischapter.Dr.Fordalsoextendshis
thankstoJerreB.Swann, ShariSeidman Diamond, G. Kip Edwards,DavidH. Bernstein,
RichardJ.Leighton, and Dr.E.Deborah Jayfortheirhelpfulcomments.
Section VI
312
nowin the fourthedition), and the 1975adoption of the Federal Rulesof Evidence,
specificallyRule 703.2,3
Accompanying the growthinthe useand application of surveyevidence isa
growing bodyof caselawregarding the relevance and reliability of surveyevidence
in Lanham Actmatters aswell asthe weightaccorded surveypercentages.
In reviewing the growing bodyof caselawregarding surveyevidence, in particular
the weightaccorded surveypercentages,itisimportanttokeep in mind the evolving
natureand characteristicsof the design of surveyresearch toaddress Lanham Act
matters.Specifically,the history of surveyresearch toaddress Lanham Actissuesover
the past 25years isanalogous tothe stagesof growthofahuman. The earlytolate1970s
mightbe characterized asthe infantstageof surveyevidence: agrowingnumberof courts
wereruling surveys admissible asan exception tothe hearsayrule. Most of thesesurveys
weresingle-cell surveys without anycontrol cells,and manylacked sophistication, even
failing toaskquestionssuch as“Whydo yousaythat?” toprincipal surveyquestions.
During the earlytolate1980s,aperiod thatmightbe characterized asthe adolescent/
young-adultstage, bothsurveys and judicial reaction tothem began togrowmore
sophisticated.4Finally,during the mid- tolate1990s through today,which mightbe
characterized asthe adultstage, surveys havegenerallybecome moresophisticated,
driven bythe Daubert,Joiner,and Kumho decisionsof the U.S. Supreme Court. 5
One of the notable changesin the evolving natureand characteristicsof the design of
surveys toaddress Lanham Actissueshasbeen the use, when necessary,ofcontrol cells 6
toaccountforsuch thingsasmarketshare, popularity,preexisting beliefs,etc.—factors
oftentimesreferred toas“noiseor“mismeasurementerror.Thus,such experimental
designs(i.e., withatest cell and an appropriatecontrol cell) arelikelytoresultin an
estimatenetof noise.7
While the relevance and reliability of each surveyand the related factpatternin
each caseareunique, the general focus of thisarticle isthe weightaccorded survey
percentagesreported in avariety of Lanham Actcases.The purposeofthischapter
2.See Gerald L. Ford, Intellectual Property Surveys Annual Cumulative Update, available from
the authorathttp://www.fordbubala.com/articlesorin the members-onlysection of the International
TrademarkAssociation’s website, http://www.inta.org/TrademarkBasics/FactSheets/Documents/
INTALanhamActSurveysCumulUpdate2010.pdf.
3.From ahistorical perspective, using the passage of the 1946Lanham Actasastarting point,the
application and developmentof surveyevidence in intellectual property caseswasinitiallyslow,withonly
18 surveys being offered in reported casesfrom 1946to1960.Between 1961and 1975, 86surveyswere
offered in reported cases(approximatelysixperyearon average), and from 1976 to1990,442surveys
wereoffered in reported cases(approximately29peryearon average.) Finally,between 1991 and January,
2007,775surveys wereoffered in reported cases(approximately48 peryearon average).
4. American Home Products Corp. v.Procter&Gamble Co., 871F.Supp. 739, 749 (D.N.J. 1994)
(discounting surveyresults based on failuretocontrol forparticipants’ priorknowledge orpreconceived
beliefs).
5. Daubert v.Merrell DowPharmaceuticals,Inc., 509U.S. 579(1993);General Elec. Co. v.Joiner ,
522 U.S. 136 (1997);Kumho TireCo., Ltd. v.Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137 (1999).
6.SaraLeeCorp. v.GoldstoneHosiery Co., 2001TTABLEXIS 204, *23–*28(T.T.A.B.2001).
7.Assuming acompetentsurvey,the appropriatecomparison of results from earliersurveys without
control cellstothe results of moremoderntwo-cell surveys would be comparing the results of the earlier
surveywiththe results of the test cell of the modernsurvey.

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