The Pernambuco Court of Justice has reversed its prior decision, revoking the preliminary injunction granted to Spribe OÜ regarding the AVIATOR trademark in Brazil. This change follows a notable shift in legal circumstances that questioned the validity of the earlier ruling.
Judge Andrea Epaminondas Tenorio de Brito announced that the foundational factual and legal basis that initially justified the injunction no longer stands. This latest development is a consequence of a ruling from the Federal Court in Brasília, which has temporarily halted the legal effects of Spribe’s registration of the AVIATOR trademark within the country.
With this decision, the court instructed the company to abstain from asserting any exclusivity tied to the AVIATOR trademark registration until the federal invalidation case is concluded.
The Pernambuco Court clarified that the original decision favored Spribe based on the assumption that its trademark registration with the Brazilian Property and Trademarks Office was entirely valid and effective. However, with the Federal Court’s suspension of that registration’s legal effects, the court determined that crucial grounds for the injunction had fundamentally altered, necessitating its annulment in accordance with Article 296 of the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure.
In June, the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Federal District and Territories initiated an investigation into Spribe for alleged abusive practices, including misleading advertising and unfair commercial activities. Allegations included inconsistencies between the advertised Return to Player (RTP) rates and actual RTP. The Prosecutor's Office urged the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets to swiftly suspend the technical certification of Spribe’s games and prevent their distribution to licensed operators.
This legal action arises from a lawsuit by Aviator Studio Brasil, which contended that the AVIATOR trademark was developed and used long before Spribe secured local trademark protection. The court acknowledged evidence indicating that the AVIATOR trademark was established in Georgia in 2016 and officially registered there in 2018, which predates Spribe's Brazilian registration. Additionally, the court considered prior judicial findings in Georgia that rendered Spribe's AVIATOR trademark registration invalid, affirming the rights of the original trademark owner.
