Our client, a manufacturer and distributor of consumer products, was a powerful player, selling a highly popular product in a niche market that it had developed with the product over the years, when a giant in the industry entered the market by launching a new product whose packaging was strikingly similar to the client's.

The client negotiated with the rival to alter the design, only to find a unsatisfactory response.

In order to make a breakthrough, the client needed evidence that the rival was violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act and commissioned NERA to conduct consumer surveys. NERA carefully designed surveys to determine the degree of consumer confusion and to determine which part of the package design made the two companies’ products look similar.

Based on the survey results, the client negotiated a change of package design and reached a satisfactory settlement without going to court.