Can I register a trademark with the view of using it on internet?
Anyone can register a trademark regardless whether or not he has a firm where to give the name; therefore it is possible to ask for the protection even though, for the moment, there is no intention of using it. However, the trademark would have to actually be used within 5 years, otherwise it will stop its validity and it would be impossible pretending that nobody else uses it.
During this intermediate time the exclusivity is preserved and it is possible to give it away or use it as one prefers. Regarding the second aspect of the problem, usually it is possible to prevent others registering a domain the same as your own mark, but only if, on Internet, other products and services identical to those already protected, are presented with that name. A trademark is not automatically obtained for the protection of any products/services, but the predicted use needs to be properly indicated, so if I register the name “X” for shoes, anyone could use that same name ”X” for ice-creams or for very different products from the shoes, both on Internet or in the real world.
However the trademark registration is very important in order to get the domain assigned. In any case, if the main consideration is tied to the use of a name on the web, it would be convenient to immediately registering the Internet domain too, and anybody can do this at a relatively low cost.