Rhonda Harper, MBA Expert Witness
Curriculum Vitae

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Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

General Specialties:

Marketing and Advertising

Keywords/Search Terms:

Survey Research (Lanham Act - Likelihood of Confusion, Secondary Meaning, Genericness, Fame, Dilution, Advertising), Class Action, Intellectual Property, Consumer Behavior, Misappropriation of Image, Licensing, Deceptive Trade Practices, Fraudulent Business Practices, Class Action, Rebuttals

Education:

MBA, Emory University; BS, Illinois State University

Years in Practice:

35+

Number of Times Deposed/Testified in Last 4 Yrs:

~25

Additional Information

RETAINED BY 200+ LAW FIRMS. COURT PROVEN. Ms. Harper has over 30 years’ experience and is one of the few experts who is court qualified across many matters. As a former chief marketing officer for Fortune 500 companies, general manager for a leading global communications agency, serial entrepreneur, and an adjunct marketing professor, she has been engaged by hundreds of law firms in cases regarding intellectual property infringement, misleading advertising, licensing, breach of contract and performance, unfair competition, trade practices, consumer privacy, and standard practices. She has also been a designated expert in more than ten class action lawsuits. As a leading survey expert, Ms. Harper has conducted or rebutted more than 200 Lanham Act trademark, trade dress, and advertising surveys. Since 2005, Ms. Harper has testified more than 100 times in virtually every Federal Circuit Court, along with State Courts, USPTO, TTAB, and in arbitrations through both AAA and JAMS. 2023 CLASS ACTION CASE: $25,000,000 Settlement - Walter Peters v. Apple, Inc. Rhonda served as the marketing, advertising, and promotion expert witness. PARTIAL CLIENT LIST Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Arnold & Poter Caye Ballard Spahr Baker Hostetler Barnes & Thornburg Dentons Foley & Lardner Fox Rothschild GIbson Dunn & Crutcher Greenberg Traurig King & Spaulding Kirkland & Ellis Lewis Roca Morrison & Foerster O'Melveny & Myers ' Paul Hastings Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom Stites & Harbison Sullivan & Cromwell Venable MS. RHONDA HARPER, MBA *Expert Witness Services Since 2005 *Former Chief Marketing Officer/VP Marketing, Walmart/Sam's Club *Former Chief Marketing Officer/VP Marketing, VF Corporation/VF Intimates *Former Global Director Marketing Communications, UPS *Former Senior Vice President and General Manager, Ketchum Communications *Former Marketing and Promotion Executive, Nabisco and Warner-Lambert *Former Adjunct Marketing Professor, American University and Fairleigh Dickinson University *Serial Entrepreneur: Consulting, Senior Care, Real Estate, Consumer Services **SERVICES** 1. SURVEYS Trademark | Trade Dress | Advertising -Conducted thousands of surveys, hundreds of them for trademark, trade dress, and advertising purposes -Skilled in the methods and formats for likelihood of confusion, secondary meaning, famousness, and genericness surveys for both circuit courts and TTAB -Provides state-of-the art survey designs, hosting platforms, sample selections, and analytics that are probative of the relevant issues in each case -Well versed in the primary treatises set forth by McCarthy, Diamond, and Swan, she provides solid scientific survey evidence that stands up in court -Successfully rebutted nearly 100 survey expert opinions 2. MARKETING Brand | Retail | Communications | Licensing -Experienced Fortune 500 senior executive across many industries -Court-qualified to opine on marketing and branding, breach of contract, unfair competition, trade practices, consumer privacy, commercial reasonableness, product development / innovation, distribution, strategy, licensing, in-store merchandising, and more -Successfully provided testimony in Class Action cases 3. REBUTTALS Surveys | Reports | Support -Successfully rebutted nearly 100 expert reports, including survey and marketing reports -Provides guidance on how to approach the opposing expert's deposition 4. TESTIMONY Depositions | Trials | Arbitrations -Provided deposition and courtroom testimony more than 100 times -Court-qualified in virtually every Federal Circuit Court, along with many State Courts, USPTO, TTAB, and in arbitrations through both AAA and JAMS -Skilled at testifying in both jury and bench trials