Unregister Domain Name with Trademark

[EJS]

I was searching for some new registrations tonight and came across a nice generic domain name that was available to register - let's call it TestDomain.com. I did a standard USPTO search for "test domain" and lo and behold, there is a live trademark for TestDomain.com. In the case where a live trademark exists on an unregistered/expired domain name, am I okay to register this name?

[katherine]

Depends how generic or distinctive the name is, and what you intend to do with it.
But it's possible for a given name to be TMed in several different industries at the same time.

[EJS]

Depends how generic or distinctive the name is, and what you intend to do with it.
But it's possible for a given name to be TMed in several different industries at the same time.

It's a type of product but not a brand of product. The domain name was the company name, but from what I can tell, they are no longer in business. It just seems that the TM didn't expire or go dead. The TM was for the actual company name with the .com rather than for the type of product it is.

[jberryhill]

It just seems that the TM didn't expire or go dead.

US TM's are registered for six year renewable terms. Whether the underlying trademark has gone abandoned is a separate question.

Yes, you can find many existing trademark registration for which the underlying mark is abandoned. Three years of non-use raises a presumption of abandonment.

[Brett Lewis]

Also, if it's the type of thing where you could make a non-competing use of the domain name, you should be okay.

Brett