With regard to trademark law, intellectual property rights and competition law, there are circumstances where the opinion of the consumers, that is to say prevailing opinion, has to be taken into account. We ascertain this prevailing opinion in the respective legal area and can produce an expert opinion on this basis as evidence.
Do you want to register your brand nationally or internationally or fight off cancellation attempts? We ascertain the degree of recognition, distinctiveness and assignability as evidence of a possible general acceptance in order to prove for example that trademarks which in principle are excluded from registration under Section 8 (2) MarkenG (Trademark Act) are still eligible for registration.
In accordance with Sections 14 (2) and 15 MarkenG, the danger of confusion can lead to an injunction or claims for damages. Danger of confusion may exist in relation to sound, picture and other sense impacts of labeling. We ascertain the extent to which such dangers of confusion exist with the market so that you can enforce your claims or defend third party claims.
Advertising can be misleading pursuant to Section 3 UWG (Competition Act) in conjunction with Section 1 UWG. The danger of misleading a not inconsiderable percentage of consumers in the market is sufficient for a court ban. Do you want to safeguard your own advertising or individual claims or have the advertising of your competitors checked over? We deliver the demoscopic substantiation you need.
There is also a danger of confusion under competition law. In accordance with Section 1 UWG, this refers to cases of unfair practices in the imitation of third party services, especially deception relating to the origin of the goods as well as with regard to imitating and exploitation of third party advertising. We check whether there is a direct or indirect danger of confusion within the market.
Comprehensive knowledge is essential if you are to perfectly tailor a brand or claim to the market and secure this on a broad basis. You need to have extensive experience in the market to make intelligent and reliable decisions. Our surveys help you create the knowledge you need for your market success.
... when the market comprises the population or a large percentage of the population. Using GfK OMNIBUS SYSTEM you can quickly carry out precise and cost-effective, representative surveys, naturally using the latest methodolgy, special tools and in-depth expertise.
... when the market comprises specific target groups. Despite the high tech aspect, these surveys depend on the qualifications of the interviewer as knowledge of the sector is critical to the meaningfulness and reliability of the data.
... telephone questionnaires are often not a suitable option as most of the products have to be presented or pictures shown. With postal or online surveys the interview situation cannot be sufficiently controlled. In Legal Research it is usually best to conduct the survey on site. To do this, our interviewers work with GfK CAM*QUEST® (Computer Assisted Multimedia Questioning), that is the latest multimedia notebooks. Brands, logos, jingles and TV spots can therefore be presented realistically.
Klaus Hilbinger
Tel.: +49 911 / 395 2386
klaus.hilbinger@gfk.com