More than 35 years' Fortune 500 business and marketing experience
As a former Fortune 500 business and marketing senior executive officer, Ms. Rhonda Harper M.B.A. has the experience and expertise you need. Ms. Harper is skilled at providing reports involving marketing, branding, product development and commercialization, distribution, strategy, licensing, digital and social media, in-store merchandising, and commercial reasonableness.
Ms. Rhonda Harper M.B.A. has:
- been retained by hundreds of law firms
- worked across virtually every Federal Circuit along State Courts, TTAB, and JAMS
- conducted thousands of research studies
- led Fortune 100 marketing, advertising, promotion, research, corporate strategy, licensing, in-store merchandising, and print/production with annual budgets exceeding $200 million
- managed teams comprised of more than 120 professionals
- decades of experience leading a management consulting and research
- taught college marketing and research as an adjunct professor
Business and Marketing: Licensing
Ms. Harper has Fortune 500 officer-level experience as both a licensee and licensor. This real world experience combined with years of experience providing licensing expert testimony can make all the difference to your case.
Licensing is a marketing practice in which a trademark owner allows another entity to license their mark in exchange for royalties. As a trademark owner, Ms. Harper has put together programs monitor the licensee’s actions related to the trademark, ensuring that the products provided by the licensee meet appropriate quality standards. If these measures aren't taken, the agreement may become a "naked license." Moreover, the company may have lost the rights to the trademark if the licensee’s products failed to meet quality standards.
Licensing controls are required because consumers rely on trademarks to determine the source of a product. They rely on them in making purchases, since they trust a company that places a certain mark on its products to meet the standards associated with the mark. Failing to monitor the use of a trademark results in the loss of the trademark’s value in the marketplace. It no longer means anything about the products with which it is associated. This is sometimes known as the “abandonment” of a trademark.
Ms. Harper is routinely retained to opine on licensing cases because of her roles at Walmart and VF Corporation where she led the licensing departments. Some of the key questions experienced witness Rhonda Harper uses to determine if the license is "naked" or if there has been an "abandonment" of a trademark include:
- Did the Licensor provide brand standards and did the Licensee adhere to them?
- Did the Licensor require regular communications and reviews?
- Did the Licensee and Licensor have consistent staff and processes in place?
- Did the Licensor regularly review and approve licensed products and services?
Examples of cases that relied on Ms. Harper's licensing and contract breakage expert reports include:
- A cookie company licensed its brand to a consumer package goods company
- A leading global jewelry company licensed its brand to a large jewelry retailer
Business and Marketing: Commercial Reasonableness
Ms. Harper's experience as a senior executive also makes the difference in determining commercial reasonableness. If your case involves determining whether your client or the opposition operated using commercial reasonableness in business strategy, marketing, advertising, and more, contact Ms. Harper who is routinely retained to opine in these types of cases.
- Did the company perform in the usual manner in the market?
- Did the company conform to reasonable practices?
- Did the company act in good faith and fair dealing?
Examples of cases that relied on Ms. Harper's commercial reasonableness and contract breakage expert reports include:
- The launch of a international brand through a U.S. retailer
- The expansion of a retailer into multiple territories
- The integration of a brand into a corporate portfolio