The Pernambuco Court of Justice has overturned a preliminary injunction that was previously granted to Spribe OÜ regarding the AVIATOR trademark in Brazil. This decision arises from significant developments that altered the legal situation that underpinned the earlier ruling.
Judge Andrea Epaminondas Tenorio de Brito indicated that the factual and legal foundations for the previous injunction are no longer valid. This ruling follows a provisional suspension by the Federal Court in Brasília of Spribe's AVIATOR trademark registration in Brazil, limiting the company’s claim to exclusivity until the broader federal invalidation proceedings are settled.
The court noted that its initial ruling was premised on the belief that Spribe’s trademark registration was valid and binding. However, because the Federal Court suspended the effects of that registration, the grounds for the injunction were deemed to have significantly changed, necessitating its revocation under Article 296 of the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure.
In a related matter, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Federal District and Territories initiated an inquiry in June into alleged abusive practices by Spribe, focusing on misleading advertising and unfair commercial tactics. The investigation pointed to inconsistencies between the advertised and actual RTP (Return to Player) rates of Spribe’s games. As a result, the Prosecutor’s Office suggested that the technical certification of Spribe’s games should be suspended immediately and that the games be prohibited from use by licensed operators.
This action followed a lawsuit from Aviator Studio Brasil, which revealed that the Aviator trademark was conceived and utilized well before Spribe secured local trademark protection. Evidence presented to the court showed that the Aviator trademark originated in Georgia in 2016 and was officially registered there in 2018, long before Spribe's registration in Brazil.
Additionally, the court referenced previous judicial decisions in Georgia that reversed Spribe’s claim to the Aviator trademark, affirming the rights of the original trademark holder.
