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Originally Posted by Matt 26z
The absense of a registered trademark does not necessarily mean you are safe. The US is a first use country. If they can prove first use in commerce and can show continued use, that could be a problem.
You can search USPTO.gov for registered trademarks, but this does not solve the threat of unregistered trademarks. Those are harder to find and searches cost around $300.
I don't think you'll find any solid info on this situation with expired domain names. The laws need to be updated. I am not a lawyer, so take this like a grain of salt..... but I would say if they let it expire and didn't use the mark for a long period of time, that will help you. But if this was an accidental expiration and they have a current product or service matching the domain name, you are screwed.
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Great answer for a non lawyer......
For those of you that believe a TM has to be registered... there is something called "common law trademark." The major difference between a common law and a registered TM is geographical location in which you can enforce your mark. Common law TMs are usually limited to where YOU do business. Registered TMs give you the ability to enforce through-out the US and world (sometimes). Foreign TMs and EU TMs are even more confusing.
And there is always the Anticyber Squatting Act as well as WIPO. TM law is an area that is confusing even for us lawyers, especially when you start thinking internationally.