True, but that doesn't change the fact that it will be a total perversion of the fundamental purpose of trademark law if this guy can manage to register a name

True, but that doesn't change the fact that it will be a total perversion of the fundamental purpose of trademark law if this guy can manage to register a name that other people are already using, whether or not they've registered it. Trademark law is for helping you protect a business you're building, not to give you a way to steal from others who have already made a mark significant. I hope this guy wastes a bunch of his own money and gets nowhere.