Aviator Trial Moved to October 2027 as Court Curbs Rival Game in Three Markets

Mr Justice Tappin has pulled the London trial between Spribe and Aviator LLC forward from early 2028 and frozen the rival game's reach in Colombia, Romania and Serbia. Spribe got the timetable it asked for, but only part of the injunction it sought.

• The High Court in London has brought the Aviator LLC and Spribe OÜ trial forward to October 2027 from early 2028, with a preliminary trial in April 2027
• The April hearing, on whether Georgian judgments bind the court, follows the Court of Appeal's 2 October ruling that English law decides their effect
• Spribe may now pursue passing off or unfair competition and copyright claims in nine more countries, but the judge refused 28 others for lack of particulars and evidence
• In Colombia, Romania and Serbia the Aviator companies may not take their game to new platforms under the Aviator name, though platforms carrying it on or before 3 July 2026 may keep it
• The judge saw a provisional high probability that Spribe will establish unfair competition in the three countries, but called its estimate of lost custom overblown

The High Court Gives Spribe Its Early Trial

Mr Justice Tappin handed down Aviator LLC & Ors v Spribe OÜ & Ors, [2026] EWHC 2840 (BP) in the Intellectual Property List on 6 November, after a hearing on 15, 16, 19 and 20 October. The claimants are Aviator LLC of Georgia and two Malta companies, Aviator Studio Limited, formerly Avigroup Limited, and Aviator Studio Holding Limited. Spribe OÜ, the Estonian developer of the Aviator crash game, is the defendant and counterclaims. A sixth party, Teimuraz Ugulava, died on 22 June 2026; his son, Nodo Ugulava, represents the estate.

Without expedition, the judgment says, the trial would have been listed in early 2028. Spribe asked for the Michaelmas term, in practice October 2027, and the judge found real urgency because each side faces harm before trial that damages may not repair. He made the order on 26 October.

A preliminary trial will decide whether the Georgian judgments create issue estoppels stopping Spribe from reopening points decided there, which the Aviator companies rely on for the copyright side of their case. It was moved from May to April 2027 so that any appeal might be heard before the main trial. The judgment does not deal with costs.

Nine Countries In, 28 Out

Spribe's counterclaim already covers passing off and copyright in the United Kingdom, where the Aviator companies are barred from launching under an order of Sir Anthony Mann dated 26 September 2025. The judge let Spribe extend it to Canada, Colombia, Ghana, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Romania, Serbia and South Africa.

He refused claims in 28 further countries, finding no particulars of Spribe's goodwill there and no evidence of a threatened launch. The Aviator companies must give at least two weeks' notice of any launch they expect in the 28 countries, and undertook to give 28 days' notice of any launch or targeted marketing in Canada or Italy. In Italy, the judgment notes, a demo was withdrawn after a Maltese court injunction based on Spribe's EU trade mark.

A Freeze in Colombia, Romania and Serbia

Players in each of the three countries wager hundreds of millions of euros a year on Spribe's game, according to the judgment, while the Aviator companies' revenue there is low. The judge found confusion very likely between two crash games called Aviator with very similar logos, though no evidence that the Aviator companies encouraged it.

He cited Spribe's evidence that Superbet replaced Spribe's game with the rival game in Romania in about early September, and that a Flutter-owned operator in Brazil had agreed to make the rival game exclusive by December. The order bars the Aviator companies from launching, or helping others launch, a crash game under the Aviator name or a similar device in the three countries. Platforms offering it on or before 3 July 2026, the date of Spribe's solicitors' warning letter, may continue. The Aviator companies may apply to vary the order for Serbia.

The Fight Is for Operators, Not Players

The judge treated lost players as a modest harm. What he could not measure was operators switching supplier, as Spribe says Superbet did in Romania, and multinational aggregators the rival game might win with a presence in three more markets. That is why the order stops new distribution rather than the game itself, holding its footprint where it stood on 3 July.

Ability to Pay Shaped the Order

The judge said he had no confidence that the Ugulava estate, which the Aviator side valued at more than $107.5m, would be worth even $15m after trial, and noted that no bank guarantee was offered. Spribe's 2025 accounts showed current assets exceeding liabilities by almost €40m. Doubt over the Aviator side's ability to pay pushed the court towards protecting Spribe; the risk to its existing business kept the order narrow.

April Decides How Big October Is

If the Georgian judgments bind the English court, much of the copyright dispute would be settled before October. If they do not, copying and ownership will be fought in full in October, alongside Spribe's claims in ten countries. Either way the result will join a mixed record abroad: Spribe won in Malta, while a Pernambuco court rejected its claims against Betnacional in September.

Spribe has the early trial and a holding order that protects its operator relationships in three markets. Whether Georgia has already settled the copyright questions over the Aviator logo is what the court decides next, in April.