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14 

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

Opinion of the Court 

preclusive effect to  the  very  TTAB  decision under review, 
Astoria would apply.  But that is not this case. 

What matters here is that registration is not a prerequi-
site  to  an  infringement  action.    Rather,  it  is  a  separate
proceeding  to  decide  separate  rights.    Neither  is  issue 
preclusion a one-way street.  When a district court, as part
of its judgment, decides an issue that overlaps with part of 
the  TTAB’s  analysis,  the  TTAB  gives  preclusive  effect  to 
the  court’s  judgment.    See  App.  to  Pet.  for  Cert.  54a– 
55a  (giving  preclusive  effect  to  the  District  Court’s  ear- 
lier  decision  regarding  SEALTIGHT’s  distinctiveness  be-
cause  the  issue  “was  actually  litigated  and  necessarily 
determined”).

Hargis  also  argues  that  allowing  TTAB  decisions  to
have issue-preclusive effect will adversely affect the regis-
tration process.  Because of the TTAB’s “ ‘limited jurisdic-
tion’ ” and “ ‘the narrowness of the issues’ ” before it, Hargis 
contends,  the  Court  should  infer  that  TTAB  proceedings 
are  supposed  to  be  more  streamlined  than  infringement 
litigation.    See  Brief  for  Respondent  30  (quoting  TTAB 
Manual  §402.01).  But,  the  argument  goes,  if  TTAB  deci-
sions  can  have  issue-preclusive  effect  in  infringement
litigation, parties may spend more time and energy before 
the  TTAB,  thus  bogging  down  the  registration  process. 
This  concern  does  not  change  our  conclusion.   Issue  pre-
clusion is available unless it is “evident,” Astoria, supra, at 
108,  that  Congress  does  not  want  it.  Here,  if  a  stream-
lined  process  in  all  registration  matters  was  particularly
dear  to  Congress,  it  would  not  have  authorized  de  novo 
challenges  for  those  “dissatisfied”  with  TTAB  decisions.
15  U. S. C.  §1071(b).    Plenary  review  serves  many  func-
tions,  but  ensuring  a  streamlined  process  is  not  one  of 
them.  Moreover,  as  explained  below,  for  a  great  many 
registration  decisions  issue  preclusion  obviously  will  not
apply because the ordinary elements will not be met.  For 
those registrations, nothing we say today is relevant.