Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/13-352_c0n2.pdf
Page Number: 5.0

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

Opinion of the Court 

lieves that the PTO should not register a mark because it 
is too similar to its own, that party can oppose registration 
before  the  Trademark  Trial  and  Appeal  Board  (TTAB).
Here,  Hargis  tried  to  register  the  mark  SEALTITE,  but
B&B  opposed  SEALTITE’s  registration.    After  a  lengthy
proceeding,  the  TTAB  agreed  with  B&B  that  SEALTITE
should not be registered. 

In  addition  to  permitting  a  party  to  object  to  the  regis-
tration of a mark, the Lanham Act allows a mark owner to 
sue  for  trademark  infringement.    Both  a  registration
proceeding  and  a  suit  for  trademark  infringement,  more-
over,  can  occur  at  the  same  time.  In  this  case,  while  the 
TTAB  was  deciding  whether  SEALTITE  should  be  regis-
the 
tered,  B&B  and  Hargis  were  also 
SEALTIGHT  versus  SEALTITE  dispute  in  federal  court.
In  both  registration  proceedings  and  infringement  litiga-
tion,  the  tribunal  asks  whether  a  likelihood  of  confusion 
exists  between  the  mark  sought  to  be  protected  (here, 
SEALTIGHT) and the other mark (SEALTITE).

litigating 

The  question  before  this  Court  is  whether  the  District
Court in this case should have applied issue preclusion to 
the TTAB’s decision that SEALTITE is confusingly similar
to  SEALTIGHT.    Here,  the  Eighth  Circuit  rejected  issue 
preclusion for reasons that would make it difficult for the 
doctrine ever to apply in trademark disputes.  We disagree
with  that  narrow  understanding  of  issue  preclusion. 
Instead,  consistent  with  principles  of  law  that  apply  in
innumerable  contexts,  we  hold  that  a  court  should  give 
preclusive  effect  to  TTAB  decisions  if  the  ordinary  ele-
ments  of  issue  preclusion  are  met.    We  therefore  reverse 
the judgment of the Eighth Circuit and remand for further
proceedings. 

I 
A 
Trademark law has a long history, going back at least to