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Page Number: 7.0

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

Opinion of the Court 

an  application  with  the  PTO.  §1051.  The  application
must  include,  among  other  things,  “the  date  of  the  appli-
cant’s first use of the mark, the date of the applicant’s first
use of the mark in commerce, the goods in connection with
which  the  mark  is  used,  and  a  drawing  of  the  mark.”
§1051(a)(2).  The  usages  listed  in  the  application—i.e., 
those  goods  on  which  the  mark  appears  along  with,  if 
applicable,  their  channels  of  distribution—are  critical. 
See,  e.g.,  3  McCarthy  §20:24,  at  20–83  (“[T]he  applicant’s
right  to  register  must  be  made  on  the  basis  of  the  goods 
described  in  the  application”);  id.,  §20:15,  at  20–85  (ex-
plaining  that  if  an  “application  does  not  delimit  any  spe-
cific  trade  channels  of  distribution,  no  limitation  will  be” 
applied).  The PTO generally cannot register a mark which
“so resembles” another mark “as to be likely, when used on
or  in  connection  with  the  goods  of  the  applicant,  to  cause
confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive.”  15 U. S. C. 
§1052(d).

If  a  trademark  examiner  believes  that  registration  is 
warranted, the mark is published in the Official Gazette of 
the PTO.  §1062.  At that point, “[a]ny person who believes
that  he  would  be  damaged  by  the  registration”  may  “file 
an  opposition.”  §1063(a).    Opposition  proceedings  occur
before the TTAB (or panels thereof).  §1067(a).  The TTAB 
consists  of  administrative  trademark  judges  and  high-
ranking  PTO  officials,  including  the  Director  of  the  PTO 
and the Commissioner of Trademarks.  §1067(b).

Opposition  proceedings  before  the  TTAB  are  in  many 
ways  “similar  to  a  civil  action  in  a  federal  district  court.”
TTAB  Manual  of  Procedure  §102.03  (2014)  (hereinafter 
TTAB Manual), online at http://www.uspto.gov (as visited
Mar. 20, 2015, and available in Clerk of Court’s case file). 
These  proceedings,  for  instance,  are  largely  governed  by 
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence.  See 37 
CFR  §§2.116(a),  2.122(a)  (2014).  The  TTAB  also  allows 
discovery  and  depositions.    See  §§2.120,  2.123(a).    The