I'm sure there's reams of info on this topic on the web; I've found a
few references at nolo.com,but I'd like to get a more detailed and
_condensed_ and hopefully definitive answer to it. The question is
pretty much what the subject says: I'm planning on opening a
site,www.mychips.com. It's a book exchange site for students(you
know,they can post and search books online); and there's another site
out there already in place that's called www.my-chips.com(names are
changed cuz I want to protect my site name), which sells a book called
My Chips which is targetted as a survival book for students. Okay..so
we have similar line of business (i.e. books and college). Looking at
the patent office trademark search, I see that My Chips(r) is a dead
trademark, under the details it says its been Abandoned. Another site
is called www.mychip.com, and its a search engine for college
students.

Now, both sites that are similarly named as mine are not really big
sites; www.my-chips.com has a dead trademark. Where in the legal
waters do I stand? I plan on applying for the dead trademark if
possible. My question really boils down to am I okay to keep my URL
and am I legally protected enough from potential attacks from the
other two sites? does the situation change if I get the dead
trademark?

Even though you may be able to use the name, I would recommend against
it for a couple reasons. Firstly, even if you are in the legal right,
you need to decide if it's worth taking the legal risk. Being in the
same business as both the similarly named sites, you could face
potential legal action. Even if you were to suceed with said action,
is it worth going through the hassle?

Secondly, you have to wonder if people, when told about your website,
will go to the correct one or will confuse it with one of your
competitors. If the "competing" names referenced a website that had
nothing to do with yours, your potential users would obviously know
that they've reached the wrong site, but this is not the case if they
are both in the books for college students business. So if nothing
else, this choice of name will make it difficult to adaquately promote
your up and coming website.

If at all possible, I recommend finding another suitable name.

Several additional details are necessary to provide a complete answer,
including the real domain names.  However, I'm not suggesting you post
them here.

A hint: find out why the first mark was abandoned.  The reasons for
abandonment may also cause you trademark headaches.

The best name is likely to be one which says exactly what you are eg:
"bookexchangeforstudents.com"

Well, the trademark was abandoned according to TESS:

Registration Number: (NOT AVAILABLE) 

Mark (words only): ommited

Current Status: Abandoned: Applicant failed to respond to an Office
action.

Date of Status: 2002-02-19

Filing Date: 2000-03-16

Registration Date: (DATE NOT AVAILABLE)

Law Office Assigned: TMEG Law Office 107


Current Location: 900 -Warehouse (Newington) 

Date In Location: 2002-02-22


Nonetheless, on the website the authors of the book do use the mark as
being registered(the little circle around the R); from my
understanding of the law, this would be illegal. Another concept to
have in mind is the fact that there's a common law trademark, but it
tends to be local in scope and it gives them some rights to the mark,
even if not registered. I looked up in Amazon for the book they sell,
and I didn't find it for sale anywhere. It could be that the book was
published at least 3 or 4 years ago and its probably out of print;
this would further diminish any potential claims in the future.

BTW, The my-chips.com website is located in Canada. I do not know if
the trademark that was filed is actually from the same company. This
could actually be two different entities, although a search on google
for the keywords "my chips" yields only the said book site.

Ops, take it back, it is the same company, and further down the page
on TESS there's this:

2002-02-19 - Abandonment - Failure to respond 

2001-06-25 - Non-final action mailed 

2001-04-19 - Communication received from applicant

2001-04-11 - Non-final action mailed 

2001-02-20 - Communication received from applicant

2000-12-19 - Non-final action mailed 

2000-10-06 - Communication received from applicant

2000-08-23 - Non-final action mailed

2000-08-21 - Case file assigned to examining attorney