UK Court of Appeal sides with Aviator LLC in procedural round of copyright dispute with Spribe

The UK Court of Appeal has ruled in favor of Aviator LLC in its long-running legal battle with Spribe, overturning an earlier High Court decision that had benefited its rival. The unanimous judgment was handed down on October 2 and concerns earlier legal proceedings in Georgia.

The appeal turned on a procedural question: whether findings made by Georgian courts can prevent certain issues from being argued again in the UK. In May, the High Court had held that the Georgian judgments were relevant to Aviator LLC's copyright claims, which gave Spribe a procedural advantage. The same judge also refused Aviator LLC's request for a preliminary hearing on ownership issues, reasoning that those questions were tied up with disputed facts and Georgian law.

The Court of Appeal has not decided whether Spribe infringed Aviator LLC's copyright, nor whether the Georgian findings are binding in the UK case. The substantive allegations therefore remain unresolved. The dispute centers on the artwork and branding of the Aviator crash game. Aviator LLC claims Spribe copied original designs, including visual elements featuring an aircraft and the Aviator name. Spribe denies this and says it created its artwork independently.

Proceedings are also under way elsewhere, and some have gone Spribe's way. A provisional ruling from the First Hall of the Civil Court of Malta found that Aviator Studio's branding was sufficiently similar to Spribe's EU trademarks to create a risk of confusion. The court pointed to examples of the two companies' games appearing next to each other, which could make it hard for players to tell them apart.

In Curaçao, a Court of First Instance invalidated Aviator LLC's local trademarks. Aviator LLC did not send a representative to defend its case, so Spribe prevailed without a contested hearing.

The differing outcomes reflect the separate legal questions in each jurisdiction. In the UK, the next stage will determine whether Aviator LLC can establish its copyright claims and how the English court will treat the earlier Georgian judgments.