Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/13-352_c0n2.pdf
Page Number: 9.0

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B&B HARDWARE, INC. v. HARGIS INDUSTRIES, INC. 

Opinion of the Court 

range of a mark’s usages, not just those in the application. 

B 
Petitioner  B&B  and  respondent  Hargis  both  manufac-
ture metal fasteners.  B&B manufactures fasteners for the 
aerospace  industry,  while  Hargis  manufactures  fasteners 
for  use  in  the  construction  trade.    Although  there  are
obvious  differences  between  space  shuttles  and  A-frame
buildings,  both  aerospace  and  construction  engineers 
prefer fasteners that seal things tightly.  Accordingly, both
B&B  and  Hargis  want  their  wares  associated  with  tight
seals.  A feud of nearly two decades has sprung from this
seemingly commonplace set of facts.

In  1993  B&B  registered  SEALTIGHT  for  “threaded  or 
unthreaded metal fasteners and other related hardwar[e];
namely,  self-sealing  nuts,  bolts,  screws,  rivets  and  wash-
ers,  all  having  a  captive  o-ring,  for  use  in  the  aerospace
industry.”  App.  223a  (capitalization  omitted).  In  1996, 
Hargis sought to register SEALTITE for “self-piercing and
self-drilling  metal  screws  for  use  in  the  manufacture  of
metal and post-frame buildings.”  App. 70a (capitalization 
omitted).  B&B  opposed  Hargis’  registration  because, 
although  the  two  companies  sell  different  products,  it
believes  that  SEALTITE 
is  confusingly  similar  to 
SEALTIGHT. 

The  twists  and  turns  in  the  SEALTIGHT  versus 
SEALTITE  controversy  are  labyrinthine.    The  question
whether either of these marks should be registered, and if 
so,  which  one,  has  bounced  around  within  the  PTO  for 
about  two  decades;  related  infringement  litigation  has
been before the Eighth Circuit three times; and two sepa-
rate  juries  have  been  empaneled  and  returned  verdicts.
The full story could fill a long, unhappy book.

For  purposes  here,  we  pick  up  the  story  in  2002,  when
the  PTO  published  SEALTITE  in  the  Official  Gazette. 
This  prompted  opposition  proceedings  before  the  TTAB,