The owners of a Highland Hotel are taking their fight to unveil the authors of anonymous online reviews about their establishment to the Supreme Court in London.
Martin Clark, who owns the four star Tigh Na Cheo guesthouse in Lochaber with his wife Jacqui, claims bogus and malicious reviews were posted on TripAdvisor, an online travel guide.
In what is seen as the last chance to unmask the individuals responsible for two negative postings, lawyers for the pair are to lodge papers this week, after an apparent anonymous benefactor stepped in to fund their legal case.
The posters of the unfavourable reviews used pseudonyms - "dreckit Manchester" and "edna B London" - and the couple wanted information about their identity as they wished to sue them for defamation.
The couple took over the running of the hotel in Kinlochleven in 2011. Both reviewers claimed to have visited in September 2011 but the reviews did not appear until February and March of 2012.
TripAdvisor opposed the move and have not revealed the information sought.
It has consistently argued that as it is headquartered in Massachusetts, any legal issues must be settled there.
A judge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh earlier this year rejected a move for an order seeking to disclose names, addresses and other information on the identity of the authors, upholding a plea of "no jurisdiction".
The couple appealed against the ruling to three judges at the court.
But Lady Paton, who heard the challenge with Lord Menzies and Lord Drummond Young, rejected the appeal in December 2014 and the couple were liable for expenses.
In a ruling in December last year, Lady Paton: "Nothing in the respondents' (TripAdviisor) terms and conditions suggests that the respondents have undertaken to be bound by the orders issued by a Scottish court."
The American company claims to be the world's largest travel site with more than 200 million reviews of hotels, guesthouses and restaurants.
Lawyers for the Clarks will argue that the internet giant has offices in London and that the Supreme Court is entitled to issue a formal request to TripAdvisor to disclose the identity of the reviewers.
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