Our survey work supported Van Leeuwen Ice Cream LLC in its trade dress case against Rebel Creamery LLC in the Eastern District of New York. Van Leeuwen claimed that Rebel’s ice cream packaging created an overall impression confusingly similar to its distinctive pint design.
We designed and ran a reverse confusion trade dress survey to measure whether relevant consumers would associate Van Leeuwen’s packaging with Rebel. Mark Keegan testified at trial about the survey’s design, methodology, and findings. The survey indicated that relevant consumers were likely to link Van Leeuwen to Rebel because of the challenged trade dress.
The court ruled for Van Leeuwen. It enjoined Rebel from using the trade dress, ordered roughly $23.8 million in profits disgorged, and required a packaging redesign.
Reuters, Inc., and Law360 covered the decision. Law360 reported that the court found Rebel had deliberately copied the soft, simple look of Van Leeuwen’s packaging. Inc. reported a net confusion rate of 34.3%, meaning about one-third of surveyed ice cream shoppers tied Van Leeuwen to Rebel.