Spribe’s Preliminary Injunction in Brazil Overturned by Court
The Federal Court in Brasília has temporarily suspended the legal effects of Spribe’s registration of the AVIATOR trademark in Brazil. Additionally, the court has instructed the company to refrain from asserting exclusivity based on that registration until the ongoing federal invalidation process is concluded.
In a related development, the Pernambuco Court of Justice has revoked the preliminary injunction previously granted to Spribe OÜ regarding the use of the AVIATOR trademark in Brazil. This reversal follows a significant shift in the legal circumstances that underpinned the earlier decision.
Judge Andrea Epaminondas Tenorio de Brito issued the ruling, noting that the factual and legal foundations supporting the initial preliminary injunction are no longer applicable. This decision aligns with the Federal Court’s earlier ruling, which provisionally suspended the legal effects of Spribe’s trademark registration in Brazil. The court explicitly ordered Spribe to cease claiming exclusive rights based on the registration until the federal proceedings for invalidation are finalized.
The Pernambuco Court highlighted that its previous decision was predicated on the assumption that Spribe’s registration with the Brazilian Property and Trademarks Office was fully valid and enforceable. However, following the Federal Court’s suspension of those legal effects, the court determined that the basis for the initial injunction had materially changed. Consequently, it ordered its revocation in accordance with Article 296 of the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure.
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In June, the Federal District and Territories Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated an inquiry into alleged abusive practices by Spribe, including misleading advertising and unfair commercial conduct. The investigation cited concerns over discrepancies between the advertised and actual RTP (Return to Player) rates. As a result, the Prosecutor’s Office recommended that the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets immediately suspend the technical certification of Spribe’s games and prohibit their availability through licensed operators.
This action followed a lawsuit filed by Aviator Studio Brasil, which demonstrated that the AVIATOR trademark was created and used years prior to Spribe obtaining local protection. The court acknowledged evidence indicating that the Aviator trademark originated in Georgia in 2016 and was officially registered there in 2018,well before Spribe’s registration in Brazil.
Furthermore, the court considered previous rulings in Georgia that invalidated Spribe’s registration of the Aviator trademark and affirmed the rights of the original trademark owner.
