?Hello,

?

?I'd like to use an name that happened to be the name of an old, abandoned product of Microsoft. The USPTO lists it as abandoned (it was abandoned over 10 years ago, as well) and MS no longer lists it on their list of trademarks. That being said, I have absolutely no desire to use a trademark that was ever used by Microsoft without express, written permissions, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to actually contact Microsoft to request clarification on this matter - their website is absolutely useless for this.

?

?Is there any way in which I should approach this, or should I just abandon this name as a pointless endeavor?

I would start by speaking to a lawyer to clarify your position and ensure what you are doing isn't a waste of time first.

After that if you are advised to go ahead, find the phone number of their local legal representatives and start there. Don't email, write and phone. You could also pay your lawyer to do that part as they will likely have records for this sort of thing.

Be careful as this sounds like legally ddubious ground even for abandoned trademarks...

Edit: a quick Google turned up this page on Microsoft's monster of a website: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/trademarks/en-us.aspx
Definitely useful.

?Been there - they no longer list it. I do need to contact a lawyer, though that may end up being expensive for no end benefit. Is there any harm in contacting them ?prior to speaking with a lawyer?

Is there any harm in contacting them ?prior to speaking with a lawyer?

Hard to say. A lawyer could probably tell you.

?True. I will see if I can find a lawyer who will give a free consult - I'd like to avoid paying money on such a trifling issue until I actually have something worth pursuing (like actually registering something).

And note that you cannot immediately pick up the mark unless you are instantly using it for products and services. You will likely need to file several forms, likely starting with an 'intent to use' form before actual products are shipped.

?Is this specific to re-using trademarks which were originally created, or to trademarks in general?

® style marks have lots of paperwork and fees and procedures.

That may be different in the USA, but in the EU it's surprisingly straightforward and easy (done that once 10-12 years ago, no lawyer involved).

You go to your country's patent office's website (DPMA in my case), fill out a form with your name and address and the mark you want, and decide for the Nice classes etc, etc, and then you need to pay a fee (I don't quite remember, but I think it was something like 200 Euros).

You'll get confirmation mail from the EUPTO (on paper) some 5-6 weeks later, followed by spam from the USPTO a few weeks later who will offer you to also file a mark for the USA at a ridiculous price (I don't remember exactly, but I think it was something like 1,500-2,000 USD). If you just ignore the spam, and if there are no objections from someone who already owns or has filed the same mark registered in another or the same Nice class within some time (I think a month or so?), the mark is yours. Simple as that.

You will get spam again 5 years later and 10 years later from dubious "mark renewal service" companies which offer to renew your mark for only 5,000 or so Euros (again, you can safely ignore that and do it yourself for a fraction of the price. Also note that you need not renew it after 5 years at all, the term is 10 years -- don't ask me why you're being offered to do that, they probably think you're stupid or something).

I cannot for the life of me figure out how to actually contact Microsoft to request clarification on this matter

Actually, even if you had an email contact there (which I do), you wouldn't necessarily get any response.

On a similar issue (licensing-related of a patent they had to a derelict video format) we've had to avoid the issue altogether after having received no replies on this specific topic for over 5 "pokes". (though the contact largely remained active in other threads, mind you).

Also, I'm not 100% up to speed on all of the legality of defunct copyrights/trademarks, but I'm pretty sure it would be safer to leave it aside. In the odd occurence that this thing ends up building a multi-million $ empire, you just know they'll find a loophole somewhere (any business would).