The mod in question is herehttp://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/mapping-and-modding/minecraft-mods/wip-mods/1443249-inventors-toolbox

 

Basically an asshat tried to port the old physics craft mod to 1.3 after half the modding community quit from the server-client merge. Anyway, the name he gave his never released mod was pretty good and that what I'm asking about.

 

Can I take that name as my own is the mod it was intended for was never released (or probably ever made). I love the name, but I don't want to get into any copyright issues in the future.

 

My question is, does he have any ownership over a name for something he never made? Also would I get ownership of that name after using it for my mod?

Technically, yes he does have mental ownership of the name - he created the name earlier than you and it does not matter that he is doing nothing with it. TheBest (haha) you can do is do the following:

 

• Find out who's the author, ask him to  hand over the name (with reasonable points),
  
• Go with what others usually go with - name your mod: 'thebest108's inventors toolbox'. If your mode becomes successful, they will start to omit your name in it, and your mod will be highest in a Google search for inventors toolbox search so you won't be penalized for slightly different mod name.