Hayward Industries Over Hayward.com Domain Name — WebQuest Sues

Domain owner sues pool equipment firm to block transfer following unfavorable WIPO ruling.

Earlier this month we wrote regarding a WIPO panel awarding the domain name Hayward.com to a pool firm called Hayward Industries, even though Hayward.com is the name of a city in California and the domain didn’t show any links related to pool equipment.

Now the owner of the domain, WebQuest, has filed a complaint (pdf) in federal court against Hayward Industries in order to keep the domain name. The suit requests the court find declaratory judgment that WebQuest is the rightful registrant of the domain name and to block the transfer to the pool firm, and requests attorneys fees.

In the lawsuit, WebQuest claims:

In the UDRP proceeding underlying this action, WIPO panelists found that WebQuest was a bad faith actor based on a combination of fabricated evidence, tortured logic, and a speculative and unsubstantiated domain name valuation. It is shocking and appalling that WIPO panelists, without any expertise in domain name valuation, would strip a domain owner of a six figure asset since they deemed its auction reserve to be
too high.

WebQuest repeats its allegation that, in order to show competing links on the domain name, Hayward Industries merely used the search box on Hayward.com to search for competitive terms.

(Hat tip George Kirikos.)