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B & B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc. | 575 U.S. 138 (2015)

Allowing parties to litigate an issue multiple times wastes judicial resources and undermines the justice system’s credibility. Consequently, courts have adopted the doctrine of issue preclusion, also known as collateral estoppel, to prevent parties from relitigating decided issues. In B and B Hardware versus Hargis Industries, we explore the requirements for issue preclusion, focusing on whether an administrative-agency decision has a preclusive effect.

B and B Hardware manufactured metal fasteners for the aerospace industry under the name SEALTIGHT, spelled S-E-A-L-T-I-G-H-T, which it registered as a trademark. Hargis Industries manufactured metal fasteners for the construction industry under the name SEALTITE, spelled S-E-A-L-T-I-T-E. When Hargis sought trademark registration, B and B opposed registration in a proceeding before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, or TTAB, arguing that registration was improper because Hargis’s mark was likely to cause confusion.

B and B also filed a trademark infringement suit against Hargis in federal court. Hargis’s liability for infringement was contingent on its mark being likely to cause confusion with B and B’s trademark. Before the district court ruled on confusion, the TTAB held that registration of Hargis’s trademark would be improper because it was likely to cause confusion. B and B argued that the TTAB’s holding had a preclusive effect, barring Hargis from contesting the likelihood of confusion at the infringement trial.

The district court denied any preclusive effect because the TTAB wasn’t a court. The jury then held there wasn’t a likelihood of confusion, and Hargis wasn’t liable for infringement. The Eighth Circuit affirmed on other grounds, denying preclusion because the TTAB used different factors than federal courts to evaluate the likelihood of confusion. The United States Supreme Court granted cert.

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