Plaintiffs, Lincare Holdings Inc.’s and Lincare Licensing Inc.’s (collectively “Lincare”) are national health care companies that provide patients “with top quality treatments and durable medical equipment.” Plaintiffs’ “portfolio includes healthcare goods and services offered in connection with the trademarks LINCARE, mdINR, CONVACARE, AMERICAN HOMEPATIENT, PREFERRED HOMECARE, and the trade name SPECIALIZED MEDICAL SERVICES.” Defendant Doxo, Inc. (“Doxo”) runs an all-inone bill pay service that allows users to pay bills to over 120,000 billers using Doxo’s website. Doxo, although unaffiliated with Plaintiffs, included Plaintiffs as billers that can be paid through Doxo’s website. Doxo’s biller pages for Plaintiffs included the use of Plaintiffs’ trademarks and trade name. Plaintiffs initiated this action against Doxo on October 13, 2022, asserting claims for trademark and service mark infringement in violation of Section 32 of the Lanham Act (Count 1); false representation and false designation of origin in violation of Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act (Count 2); unfair competition in violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (“FDUTPA”) (Count 3); trademark infringement, trade name infringement, and unfair competition under Florida common law (Count 4); and tortious interference with business relationships (Count 5).
Doxo accused Lincare of attempting to use several forms of inadmissible
evidence as a result of which Doxo sought to exclude (1) Lincare’s various call logs prepared by its customer support agents, which constituted unreliable, inadmissible, and often multilayered hearsay, (2) all evidence of, or testimony relating to, cease and desist letters sent to Doxo by third-party billers, as well as any third-party complaints or disputes that involve marks not at issue here and were not fully adjudicated as well as (3) Sarah Butler’s testimony regarding Lincare’s trademarks other than LINCARE.
Survey Research Expert Witness
Sarah Butler is a highly esteemed expert in survey research and sampling, boasting over 20 years of experience in designing and executing intricate consulting projects for clients involved in litigation, arbitration, regulatory proceedings, and business strategy. Her expertise extends to advising prominent brands such as Apple, Walmart, Toyota, and Gatorade. Notably, her research and testimony have been widely recognized and accepted in both state and federal courts, including bench and jury trials, as well as by regulatory bodies like the ITC and the Copyright Board, along with arbitration venues.
Discussion by the Court
First, Doxo argued that the Court should exclude Lincare’s various call logs prepared by its customer support agents since the call logs were neither recordings nor verbatim transcriptions of actual words spoken by Lincare’s customers. Instead, they reflected the employees’ characterizations of the conversation, biased by the employees’ express instructions from their superiors to uncover evidence of confusion in support of this case.
The Court observed that the call logs/notes consisted of two layers of statements: (1) the notes written by Plaintiffs’ customer representatives, for which the customer representatives are the declarants; and (2) the statements of Plaintiffs’ customers made to and recorded by the customer representatives, for which the customers are the declarants. Under Federal Rule of Evidence 805, “hearsay within hearsay is not excluded by the rule against hearsay if each part of the combined statements conforms with an exception to the rule.” Thus, both layers of double hearsay must satisfy a hearsay exception to be admissible. Alternatively, there would be no hearsay within hearsay problem if the customers’ statements recorded within the notes did not constitute hearsay.
The Court agreed with Plaintiffs that the customers’ statements to Plaintiffs’ customer representatives were not hearsay or were subject to the state of mind exception to hearsay.
Next, Doxo argued that the evidence of cease and desist letters sent to Doxo by third-party billers, as well as any third-party complaints or disputes that involved marks not at issue here and were not fully adjudicated were irrelevant because “documents specific to one trademark are largely irrelevant to a claim for infringement of an entirely separate mark.” Additionally, Doxo maintained that mere complaints by third parties about alleged infringement were not relevant to the willfulness of Doxo’s infringement.
The Court held that the letters were relevant to Doxo’s intent, bad faith, and willfulness in using Plaintiffs’ trademarks since the cease-and-desist letters and other third-party disputes put Doxo on notice that other businesses believed that Doxo’s use of their trademarks on its website infringed their trademarks. But — as Plaintiffs tell it — Doxo continued to prominently use various businesses’ trademarks, including Plaintiffs’ trademarks, on its website in the same way despite this notice.
Finally, Doxo contended that Plaintiffs’ survey expert, Sarah Butler, should not have been able to offer opinions regarding Plaintiffs’ trademarks besides the LINCARE mark. It emphasized that Butler’s survey only involved the LINCARE mark and, thus, her opinion stated in her report that there was “no reason to believe [that her] conclusions as to confusion would differ for” Plaintiffs’ other marks should not have been admissible. The Court held that Doxo neglected addressing the Federal Rules of Evidence in support of this section of its
Motion. Instead, Doxo cited law regarding expert reports and at least one case deciding a Daubert motion rather than a motion in limine.
It was worth noting that Doxo had previously filed a Daubert motion targeting Butler’s testimony. When Butler had described the consumer confusion survey she conducted for the LINCARE mark, Doxo had argued that her opinions lacked reliable methodology. Doxo alleged that Butler’s survey consisted of numerous flaws concerning the survey population, the marketplace conditions, the control group, and the allegedly vague questions asked. The Court denied Doxo’s Daubert motion after acknowledging that Butler’s methodology in conducting her survey was reliable enough for it to be presented to the jury.
The Court determined that to the extent Doxo could be interpreted as raising a challenge to the admissibility of Butler’s opinion under the Federal Rules of Evidence, that challenge likewise failed. Butler’s opinion regarding these trademarks was held to be relevant to the trademark infringement claims and exclusion under Rule 403 was unwarranted. Doxo was free to cross-examine Butler and raise arguments at trial about the weight to be accorded to her opinions.
Held
The Court denied the Defendant’s motions in limine to exclude Lincare’s unreliable call log, evidence regarding third-party disputes, and Sarah Butler’s testimony regarding Lincare’s trademarks other than LINCARE.
The Court has not arrived on an outcome for this case since the remaining issues involved in this case still await resolution.
Key Takeaways:
Regardless of the challenges to Sarah Butler’s methodology in a Daubert motion, the Court ultimately deemed her survey reliable enough for presentation to the jury, emphasizing the importance of demonstrating methodological soundness in expert opinions. Additionally, arguments regarding the scope of expert opinions were addressed, with the Court dismissing Doxo’s contention that Butler should only offer opinions on the LINCARE mark as unsupported by relevant legal standards. The Court emphasized the importance of applying the Federal Rules of Evidence and relevant legal standards in evaluating the admissibility and scope of expert testimony to ensure consistency and fairness across cases. Vigorous cross-examination — rather than exclusion — was advocated as the proper means of challenging Butler’s opinions
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Lincare Holdings Inc. Et Al V. Doxo, Inc. |
| Docket Number: | 8:22cv2349 |
| Court: | United States District Court, Florida Middle |
| Citation: | 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34899 |
| Order Date: | February 29, 2024 |
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