RASK advised Hepta Group on IP and legal matters

RASK’s team, which included attorneys-at-law Andrei Svištš, Keidi Kõiv, Ramon Rask, and Tarmo Peterson, advised and represented Hepta Group Airborne and Flaperon in connection with intellectual property matters, including the automatic flight capability and Community design of UAVs developed by the clients, and in relation to alleged receipt of illegal state aid.

Since 2019, the clients or their shareholders had been involved in three disputes, alleging that the UAVs they were developing had been initially created with EU funding as part of a project executed by the Estonian Aviation Academy and should instead belong to a third party, Instigo Eesti, which had designed and implemented the EU project. Two of these disputes concluded in 2023, resulting in Hepta Group Airborne obtaining full rights over the Community design of the UAVs, and the courts confirmed that the automatic flight capability had not been developed within the EU-funded project.

The third dispute, initiated by partners of Instigo Eesti against the Estonian Aviation Academy, alleged that Hepta Group Airborne and Flaperon (involved as third parties) had received illegal state aid while developing their UAVs. The court of first and secound instances ruled in favour of RASK’s clients. The decisions are final.

Founded in 2017, Hepta Group Airborne is an innovative technology company that provides end-to-end inspection and analysis tools to automate asset management. Its software offers a bird’s-eye view of the grid, while its autonomous drones deliver best-in-class quality over hundreds of kilometers.