UK Court Decision Favors Spribe in Legal Battle Against Aviator

There has been an important new development in the legal clash between crash games company Spribe and Aviator LLC. While the case raged on in the UK for months, a high court judge has determined that certain factors tied to the case depend on foreign law.

This is effectively a procedural win for Spribe.

Aviator LLC Claims Spribe Infringed on Its Intellectual Property  

Spribe and Aviator LLC have been embroiled in a legal clash for quite some time now, with the latter party insisting that Spribe appropriated branding tied to Georgian businessman Temur Ugulava’s Aviator LLC.

The infringement claim relates to Spribe’s popular Aviator crash game where players mush cash out before a plane flies away. The simple, yet engaging concept has captured the hearts of millions of players all over the world, turning the legal clash into a highly important battle.

Spribe has firmly rejected the idea that it copied the Aviator branding. It previously secured an interim injunction against Aviator LLC.

Judge Tappin Did Not Allow Aviator to Isolate the Ownership Issue

On May 22, deputy judge Michael Tappin KC ruled that earlier judgments from Georgian courts must be assessed since Aviator LLC’s claims are not tied to the UK only, but also to multiple Berne Convention signatory countries.

This is a major win for Spribe since Aviator LLC insisted that English law should determine whether earlier Georgian court decision create binding issue estoppels. However, the judge said that EU laws remain part of English law, meaning that the court must comply with the law of each country where copyright protection is claimed.

In addition to that, judge Tappin rejected Aviator LLC’s attempt to initiate a preliminary hearing and fast-track the ownership issue. He justified his decision with the fact that the issue was tied to disputed facts and Georgian law and could not be isolated from the case.

Tappin did not comment on ownership and copyright infringement. These issues are set to be assessed at a full trial.