Brazilian court revokes preliminary injunction granted to Spribe

The Pernambuco Court of Justice has revoked the preliminary injunction previously granted to Spribe OÜ in an ongoing dispute over the use of the AVIATOR trademark in Brazil. This follows a significant change in the legal circumstances that formed the basis of the previous decision.

In a decision issued by Judge Andrea Epaminondas Tenorio de Brito, the court concluded that the factual and legal basis supporting the previous preliminary injunction no longer exists. The decision follows a ruling by the Federal Court in Brasília, which provisionally suspended the legal effects of Spribe’s registration of the AVIATOR trademark in Brazil.

The Court ordered the company to refrain from claiming exclusivity based on that registration until the federal invalidation proceeding is resolved.

The Pernambuco Court emphasised that its previous decision was based on the presumption that Spribe’s trademark registration with the Brazilian Property and Trademarks Office was fully valid and effective.

Since the Federal Court subsequently suspended the legal effects of that registration, the Court held that the grounds for the preliminary injunction had undergone a substantial change, requiring its revocation pursuant to Article 296 of the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure.

Unfair practices and game suspensions

In June, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Federal District and Territories opened an inquiry to investigate abusive practices by the game developer regarding misleading advertising and unfair commercial practices. It alleged, among other things, a discrepancy between the advertised and actual RTP (Return to Player). The Prosecutor’s Office recommended that the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets immediately suspend the technical certification of Spribe’s games and ban them from licensed operators.

The decision stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Aviator Studio Brasil, which demonstrated that the trademark had been created and used years before Spribe obtained local protection. The court acknowledged evidence showing that the Aviator trademark originated in Georgia in 2016 and was formally registered there in 2018, years prior to Spribe’s Brazilian registration.

The court also took into account previous judicial rulings in Georgia that invalidated Spribe’s registration of the Aviator trademark and upheld the rights of the original trademark owner.