• A court in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco has issued an interim injunction ordering Flutter-owned NSX Brasil, the company behind Betnacional, to immediately cease use of the Aviator trademark following a legal challenge from games developer Spribe
• The Court of Justice of Pernambuco ruled that Spribe holds a legally registered Aviator trademark with Brazil's National Institute of Industrial Property, affirming its claim of ownership over the crash game name and associated visual elements
• Spribe alleged that Betnacional had been an authorised licensee of Aviator since 2022, but that the disputed offering from a provider called "Aviator Studio" deviated from that licensing arrangement
• The injunction carries daily fines for non-compliance and remains in force pending any appeal, with NSX ordered to discontinue use of any identical or confusingly similar signs and to cease reproducing related visual, graphical or audiovisual elements
• The Brazilian ruling forms part of a broader global enforcement campaign by Spribe, which also secured a similar interim injunction in the UK against competing studio Aviator LLC, preventing it from launching a rival crash game in that market

Spribe Is Taking the Fight for Aviator Global, and the Courts Are Backing It

Spribe has secured another significant legal victory in its worldwide campaign to protect the Aviator brand, with a Brazilian court ordering Flutter-owned Betnacional to immediately stop using the Aviator name. The ruling from the Court of Justice of Pernambuco is an interim injunction, but it carries immediate practical force, with daily fines attached for any breach and an indefinite lifespan pending the outcome of any appeal.

The case was filed by Spribe against NSX Brasil, the Flutter subsidiary behind the Betnacional platform. At its core, the dispute centres on a crash-style game that appeared on Betnacional's platform under the Aviator name, attributed to a provider called Aviator Studio. Spribe argued this constituted an unauthorised reproduction of its own product, which it originally developed in late 2018 and for which it holds a registered trademark with Brazil's National Institute of Industrial Property.

The legal picture is complicated by the prior relationship between the parties. Spribe contends that Betnacional was an authorised licensee of Aviator from 2022 onwards, which means the dispute is not simply about an unknown third party copying a popular product. It is about whether a former licensee, or an entity operating through that licensee, moved outside the bounds of the licensing arrangement by offering a product that Spribe had not sanctioned. The court's decision to grant the injunction suggests it found sufficient merit in that argument to act immediately rather than wait for a full hearing.

The scope of the order is broad. NSX has been instructed to discontinue not just use of the Aviator name but any identical or confusingly similar signs, as well as any reproduction of visual, graphical or audiovisual elements associated with Spribe's product. That reach is significant for any operator or provider that has been working with Aviator-branded content in Brazil without a clear licensing relationship with Spribe itself.

In a statement responding to the ruling, Spribe described the decision as a significant milestone in its worldwide strategy to protect its assets, adding that the company is actively monitoring markets across all continents and will continue to enforce its trademark and copyright protections in every jurisdiction. The developer made clear it remains committed to taking all necessary legal action against infringers to protect the integrity of the original Aviator experience and its global player base.

The Brazilian case is not an isolated action. Spribe previously secured an interim injunction in the UK courts against Aviator LLC, a competing studio that had been preparing to launch a rival crash game in that market. Spribe founder David Natroshvili stated when that injunction was granted in August last year that Spribe created the Aviator crash game in 2018 and considers itself the sole owner of the game globally, committing to take all necessary steps to protect the product from parties seeking to undermine or infringe its rights.

The broader intellectual property dispute involving Aviator LLC has a more complex history. The conflict originated in Georgia in 2024, when Aviator LLC accused Spribe of infringing its imagery copyright and trademark, a case that also drew Flutter into proceedings. That dispute ultimately saw Aviator LLC drop its claims against Flutter in January 2025, with the two parties withdrawing all litigation against each other. Spribe's campaign against other parties alleged to be infringing the Aviator brand has continued independently of that resolution.

The Licensing Relationship Complicates This Case Significantly

The most legally interesting dimension of the Brazilian ruling is the allegation that Betnacional was previously an authorised Aviator licensee. Trademark infringement cases involving former licensees operate in a different legal territory to standard third-party copying claims. A former licensee has detailed knowledge of the product, access to its commercial mechanics and potentially the infrastructure to replicate it closely. The question of whether the Aviator Studio product on Betnacional's platform represents a genuine departure from the licensed product or an attempt to substitute it with something outside the licensing arrangement will be central to any full hearing. The interim injunction reflects the court's preliminary view, but the substantive legal battle over what the licensing arrangement permitted and where it was breached is likely to be hard-fought.

Spribe Is Establishing a Global Enforcement Precedent

Securing injunctions in both Brazil and the UK within a relatively short timeframe signals that Spribe's enforcement strategy is systematic rather than reactive. The company appears to be building a body of favourable court rulings across multiple jurisdictions that collectively reinforce its position as the sole legitimate owner of the Aviator crash game concept and brand. Each successful injunction makes the next one easier to obtain, as courts in subsequent jurisdictions can point to established legal findings elsewhere. For the broader iGaming industry, this pattern of enforcement is a reminder that popular game formats with registered trademarks cannot be freely replicated under similar names without serious legal risk, regardless of how prevalent that practice has been historically.

The Flutter Connection Raises Industry-Wide Questions

The fact that this dispute involves a Flutter subsidiary is notable. Flutter is one of the most sophisticated and legally resourced operators in the global gambling industry, and its platforms are expected to maintain rigorous standards around licensing and intellectual property compliance. The appearance of an Aviator-branded crash game from an unlicensed provider on a Flutter platform, whether through oversight in the content management process or a misreading of the licensing arrangement, points to the broader challenge of maintaining IP compliance across large multi-brand, multi-market operations that integrate content from dozens of third-party providers. The outcome of this case, when it reaches a full hearing, could prompt operators of similar scale to review their own content catalogues for comparable licensing ambiguities before they find themselves in a similar position.