Do trademarked names drop??

[nafti]

I have been watching a .info name that use to be a trademark. I went to the U.S. patent and trademark office website at http://www.uspto.gov/ and searched the name. It said that the name has been Abandoned. The "Live/Dead Indicator" said it was dead. The expiration date on this name was in EARLY August of 2006. So the question is, why hasn't this name been put on hold by now? There is still an existing website there as well. Are there different restrictions when it comes to names dropping on expired trademarked names?

Thanks.

 

[droplister]

If the trademark is all that has expired, then the domain will only expire if the domainowner fails to renew it, if the domain has expired aswell as the trademark i dont know what happened. Im pretty sure trademark only matters for the initial registration

 

[Domagon]

From my understanding, "abandoned" in regards to the USPTO is in reference only to the registration of the mark there...

It's quite possible for an "abandoned" mark to still be protected as a common law mark and/or protected in other geographical regions ... ie. in a particular state, another country, etc.

And finally, it's sometimes possible to *revive* an "abandoned" mark.

In regards to the domain name itself, Droplister is right ... trademark sometimes matters during initial registration, such as during a "sunrise" period during launch of a new TLD, but typically doesn't matter in regards to renewal - if the fee isn't paid, the domain will be dropped and made available to others to register.

Ron

 

[Talkhost]

trademark names will drop, but it does not mean there is no trademark issues with the name.. you can reg them as it is not the problem of the registrar to check TM issues.... but the TM holder can still give you problems

 

[B.King]

It makes no diffrence if on the registration/ dropping procedure of the name because its trade marked, the name is probably in redemption period , when this will be over it would be available to register