Spribe Secures Procedural Win In Aviator Copyright Battle After UK Court Ruling

Spribe has secured an important procedural victory in its ongoing copyright dispute with Aviator LLC.

This follows a UK High Court judge ruling that foreign law, rather than English law, will govern key parts of the case. The dispute centres around ownership of the aircraft image associated with the Aviator brand, one of the most successful online crash games.

Aviator LLC, a company linked to Georgian businessman Temur Ugulava, has challenged Spribe’s rights to the branding and is pursuing copyright claims across several countries under the Berne Convention.

The latest ruling was delivered on 22 May by Deputy Judge Michael Tappin KC.

Court rules foreign law applies to key claims

Aviator LLC argued that English law should determine whether previous rulings from Georgian courts create binding legal findings that cannot be challenged elsewhere. But the court disagreed.

Tappin KC found that existing private international law rules require courts to apply the laws of the countries where copyright protection is being claimed when assessing the effect of earlier judgments.

In the ruling, he stated: “…a rule of law relating to preclusive effect, which states whether a party is prevented from disputing (or establishing, as the case may be) one or more elements of a cause of action for an infringement of an intellectual property right, is part of the applicable law under Articles 8 and 15.”

Judge declines separate ownership hearing request

The court also rejected Aviator LLC’s request for a separate preliminary hearing focused solely on copyright ownership. According to Tappin KC, ownership questions were too closely connected to disputed facts and Georgian law to be separated from the case.

“I can see no reason why ownership should be plucked out from all the other issues and decided in advance,” the judge said.

Spribe has consistently denied copying the branding and holds trademark registrations covering the disputed image. The company also previously secured an interim injunction against Aviator LLC pending trial.

Spribe has secured another procedural victory in its current copyright battle with Aviator LLC. While the ruling does not determine ownership of the Aviator branding or any infringements, it confirms that foreign laws will be central to assessing parts of the dispute.