Spribe pushes back in $330m Aviator copyright case

Spribe has pushed back in the copyright and trademark infringement case over its Aviator title, claiming it does indeed hold the IP to the brand.

The supplier’s crash game title has been subject of a court case in Georgia where Aviator LLC, an unrelated company, claimed a $330m victory against Spribe and Flutter Entertainment’s Adjarabet brand.

Last week, the Georgian Court of First Instance backed Aviator LLC’s claims that Spribe’s use of the Aviator image and brand for its crash game on the Adjarabet platform infringed existing copyright.

According to a press release published by Aviator LLC, the Georgian court agreed that Spribe’s use of the imagery infringed existing trademarks and informed Adjarabet to remove the title.

Aviator LLC said: “The court ruling found copyright and trademark infringement and invalidated trademark registrations based on bad faith registration and copyright infringement, awarding the claimant damages in the amount of $330m.”

EGR understands Aviator returned about $7.5m in revenue in Georgia last year for Flutter, with the operator giant planning to challenge the ruling.

Sources have indicated that the size of the claim from Aviator LLC is without merit and the economics involved are not reflective of the reality.

Alongside Flutter’s planned appeal, Spribe issued its own statement on LinkedIn in which it moved to defend itself following the ruling.

The statement read: “Spribe created Aviator in 2018 and was the pioneer in creation and popularisation of [the] crash game sector that has totally reshaped the igaming industry.

“Spribe is the creator and proud owner of the Aviator game globally, with the IP (copyright, trademark) protected worldwide and owned exclusively by us. 

“Aviator is certified in over 40 jurisdictions and is played by more than 35 million players every month across more than 4,500 brands.”