The Pernambuco Court of Justice has overturned the preliminary injunction it granted to Spribe OÜ regarding the AVIATOR trademark dispute in Brazil. This decision follows significant legal developments that challenged the foundation of the initial ruling.
Judge Andrea Epaminondas Tenorio de Brito stated that the legal and factual grounds supporting the earlier injunction have dissipated. This conclusion was prompted by a prior ruling from the Federal Court in Brasília, which provisionally suspended the effects of Spribe’s AVIATOR trademark registration in Brazil.
Consequently, the court mandated that Spribe refrain from asserting exclusivity tied to that trademark registration until the pending federal proceedings are resolved.
The court clarified that its former decision was predicated on the assumption that Spribe’s trademark registration with the Brazilian Property and Trademarks Office was valid and effective. However, with the Federal Court's recent suspension of that registration’s legal effects, the Pernambuco Court determined that the circumstances necessitated the revocation of the injunction, in accordance with Article 296 of the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure.
In a related matter, in June, the Public Prosecutor's Office for the Federal District and Territories initiated an investigation into Spribe for alleged misleading advertising and unfair commercial practices. They alleged inconsistencies between the advertised and actual Return to Player (RTP) rates. As a result, the Prosecutor's Office recommended that the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets promptly suspend technical certifications of Spribe's games and prohibit their use by licensed operators.
This situation arose from a lawsuit filed by Aviator Studio Brasil, which presented evidence that the AVIATOR trademark had been established and utilized long before Spribe obtained local protection. The court confirmed that the Aviator mark originated in Georgia in 2016 and was officially registered there in 2018, well ahead of Spribe’s Brazilian registration.
Additionally, the court acknowledged earlier judicial decisions from Georgia that deemed Spribe’s AVIATOR trademark registration invalid, reaffirming the rights of the original trademark holder.
