Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Indiana

Re: Unregistered Entity Name by an LLC, Is it up for grabs?

I have three words for you: "Do it NOT."

What you describe is deliberate trademark infringement, perjury, false designation of origin and unfair competition. Watch out as, whether ethical or not, you would be clearly in the wrong legally in doing that and could end up with punitive damages against you. Trademark rights are based on use, not registration. So, the answer to your question is that US law protects the unregistered first user over a trademark pirate who registers later in an attempt to steal the unregistered trademark. The law is just the opposite in many foreign countries, since there rights are generally based on registration not on actual use. Registration in the US confers additional rights beyond those obtained by unregistered use, but it will not trump prior actual use. You could not legally register anyway, because you must sign an oath that you are not aware of anyone else with a superior right to use the name (hence you are contemplating perjury). A bogus state registration will mean nothing, since it can easily be trumped by a valid federal registration by the true owner.

There are ways to legitimately position yourself to try to take away someone else's trademark should that someone else be careless about their rights, but that takes careful legal work, close monitoring and a good attorney to guide you and will likely be unsuccessful if the other party is careful and well advised.