Supreme Court's TTAB Preclusion Ruling
On March 24, 2015, the Supreme Court delivered its opinion in B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc., ruling that issue preclusion should apply when the issues considered by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) are materially the same as those considered by a district court. COJK litigation attorney Carmen Bremer and trademark attorney Everett Fruehling's comments on the significance of the Supreme Court's ruling were published in the Law360 article, "Attorneys React to Supreme Court's TTAB Preclusion Ruling." The attorneys state, “The decision represents a straightforward application of issue preclusion principles," and noted further, ". . . this means that individuals who are dissatisfied with an outcome at the TTAB may find they are ‘stuck’ with the board’s determination even in separate district court proceedings. In other words, making a case to the board may be the only bite at the apple for critical, often case-dispositive issues such as likelihood of confusion.” The article appeared in the March 24, 2015 issue of Law360.
The case involved parallel proceedings before the TTAB and a U.S. district court concerning the trademarks SEALTIGHT and SEALTITE, and presented the question of whether the district court should have applied issue preclusion to the TTAB’s determination that the latter mark is confusingly similar to the former. A summary of the decision can be found here.
