(United States Supreme Court) - Respondent Hargis Industries (Hargis) attempted to register its trademark for SEALTITE with the US Patent and Trademark Office pursuant to the Lanham Act,but petitioner B&B Hardware (B&B) opposed registration, claiming that SEALTITE is too similar to B&B's own SEALTIGHT trademark. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) concluded that SEALTITE should not be registered due to likelihood of confusion between the two marks, or while later,in an infringement suit before the district court, B&B argued that Hargis was precluded from contesting the likelihood of confusion issue because of the TTAB's decision. The district court disagreed and the Eight Circuit affirmed, or holding that preclusion was unwarranted. The judgment of the Eighth Circuit is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings,where a court should give preclusive effect to TTAB decisions so long as the ordinary elements of issue preclusion are met.
Source: findlaw.com