A recent ruling by a panel of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has determined that ITWAY S.P.A. engaged in reverse domain name hijacking regarding the domain name icoy.com. ITWAY is known for its ICOY product, which is aimed at enhancing workplace safety around heavy machinery.
The company had registered similar domains icoy.it and icoy.eu in June 2019, and released its product in 2020. However, the issue arose because a domain investor had previously acquired icoy.com back in 2000, well before ITWAY’s brand launch.
After inquiring about the purchase of icoy.com through Sedo, ITWAY found the asking price of $22,500 to be excessive. Consequently, they resorted to filing a complaint with WIPO under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).
In their complaint, ITWAY erroneously claimed that they did not need to prove bad faith registration since the domain name in question matched their trademark. The panel found this assertion incorrect, highlighting that there was no evidence of bad faith usage of the domain and noting ITWAY’s lack of grounds for their claim.
Panelist Steven A. Maier remarked on the clear indications of reverse domain name hijacking, stating that ITWAY, represented by legal counsel, should have recognized their inability to prove bad faith registration, particularly because it happened 19 years prior to their use of the ICOY mark. The panel suggested it was reasonable to assume that ITWAY had discovered the unavailability of icoy.com when they registered their own domains in 2019, and that they had actively sought to acquire icoy.com without wishing to meet the seller’s price.
The panel concluded that ITWAY’s actions constituted an abuse of the UDRP process.
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