Brazilian Court Cancels Spribe’s Interim Relief

The Court of Justice of Pernambuco (TJPE) has revoked the preliminary appellate relief previously granted to Spribe OÜ in ongoing litigation concerning the use of the AVIATOR trademark in Brazil, following a significant change in the legal circumstances underlying the earlier decision.

In a monocratic decision issued by Justice Andrea Epaminondas Tenorio de Brito, the Court concluded that the factual and legal basis supporting the prior injunction no longer exists. The decision follows a ruling by the Federal Court in Brasília, which provisionally suspended the legal effects of Spribe’s Brazilian AVIATOR trademark registration and ordered Spribe to refrain from asserting exclusivity based on that registration until the federal nullity proceedings are resolved.

The Pernambuco Court emphasized that its earlier decision had relied on the presumption that Spribe’s trademark registration before the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) was fully valid and enforceable. Because the Federal Court subsequently suspended the legal effects of that registration, the Court held that the foundation for the preliminary relief had materially changed, requiring its revocation pursuant to Article 296 of the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure.