This is a little complicated, but I'll try to explain. I know of a niche forum that's rather large, it's a true niche though - the guy running it has really done nothing to update it, so it still looks like it's stuck in the 1990s. The forum's name is in this format: KeywordForum.com....for a long time, I've owned the plural version (i.e. KeywordForums.com) and it gets constant type-in traffic. I noticed this guy never did anything to truly establish his forum - no logo, no trademark, no business, WHOIS is just his name and home address, etc. Given that this domain gets traffic, would it be overly risky to develop my own forum on it, get a trademark (logo & name) and put it under my LLC's umbrella? My thinking is that if the trademark goes through the 6 month dispute process and makes it through, would his "first use in commerce" have any effect? This is all just a thought and I wanted to get some reflections. I'm always the type of person who thinks "if it sounds risky, don't even try it", but this has been piquing my interest for so many years.
Trademarks are a race to the marketplace. If he is using the domain name in commerce, which it appears he is (are there any ads on his site?), then his date of first use pre-dates yours. I would be very wary of doing this. If you really think he is not that interested in his own site you might try just buy his site (and the rights) from him, or even just offer him $100 bucks out of the blue for the to use your domain name, for any purpose, in perpetuity. Then, even if he sells his domain, he sells it subject to the rights he already granted you. You have a couple options, but if you are seriously the type of person who thinks "if it sounds risky, don't even try it" then you do not want to do this.
Thanks for the insightful response! The toughest part here is that it's such a good domain name. It would be the equivalent of owning something like "TruckForums.com", almost a shame not to use it. This guy's forum is definitely established and has a huge community, and he's utilizing Google AdSense all over the place, but it doesn't appear to have any real "business" structure backing it. He never got the trademark to the forum name, so I saw that as an advantage...He's even using some free forum, and it's not even phpBB or SMF. I guess I'll have to really think about this one.
He has a common law trademark just by using the name. Registration is not a requirement to have a legally defensible trademark. That being said, if it is something as generic as truckforums (which is just an example) then you probably could use Trucksforum.com without a problem. The example 'truckforums' is a very generic name. That is very different that someone trying to start something called digitalpoints.com. If you are really serious you should probably consult with an attorney who can help make sure you are protected as best as possible if you decide to try to use the domain.
Thanks - I think I'll do that soon! I've been trying to find cases where this has been done before (singular & plural site co-existing but being managed by two different people) and I haven't really been able to find any, since most domains out there seem to be parked.