Purchased domain, but orginal owner still has trademark

[evotsi]

I purchased a domain name from a company that went out of business, however after searching the trademark records it looks like someone else within the business trademarked the name. The address listed for the trademark is the business address which is no longer valid and the person responsible for the domain name has not been able to contact the trademark owner in over 2 years. Should I go ahead with building the business, or could this trademark cause problems in the future?

[phranque]

please see the TRADEMARKS AND LEGAL ADVICE section of the Domain Names forum Charter [webmasterworld.com].

[Webwork]

As phranque indicated we really can't undertake the task of offering trademark advice.

That said, I suggest you attempt to reach out to the company and determine the exact history of the domain and trademark registration as they might provide clues as to what you must do next.

IF you need a legal opinion then you need to discuss this with a lawyer who practices where the trademark was registered. It may be that the registration was one of agency, not ownership, with the registrant acting as the agent for the company and otherwise assigning the rights to the company. Again, that's a matter to be determined by scrutinizing what you can in the trademark records. You might want to take a trip to the trademark office to dig through their records, looking for who paid the fees, what lawyer aided the process (if any), etc. All possible signs of agency or indications of where you might find a definitive answer.

[bwnbwn]

Unlike copyrights and patents, trademark rights can last indefinitely as long as the owner continues to use the mark to identify its goods or services. The term of a federal trademark is 10 years, with 10-year renewal terms. However, the USPTO requires that between the fifth and sixth year after the date of registration, the registrant must file an affidavit stating that the mark is still in use. If no affidavit is filed, the registration is cancelled. The USPTO does not remind the trademark owner of this deadline.