The Aviator trademark lawsuit explained: Aviator LLC’s $330m Georgian win, Spribe’s UK injunction, and the fight over who owns the Aviator brand.
What is the Aviator lawsuit about? This is a balanced account of the legal battle over the Aviator brand — between Spribe, the studio behind the game, and Aviator LLC, which holds the original trademark — and where the courts have landed so far.
Aviator is one of the most successful games in online gambling, but its brand is the subject of a legal fight spanning several countries. On one side is Spribe, the studio that built the crash game; on the other is Aviator LLC, which says it owned the Aviator name and aeroplane logo before Spribe’s game existed. The dispute has produced a $330 million judgment in one country and a courtroom win for Spribe in another, and it is still running. Much of the detail comes from the parties themselves, so this account sets out what each side claims and what the courts have actually decided.
The Aviator Dispute at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Parties | Spribe (maker of the game) v Aviator LLC (holder of the original trademark) |
| What it is about | Rights to the Aviator name and aeroplane logo, not the crash-game mechanic |
| Georgia outcome | Courts ruled for Aviator LLC at all three levels |
| Damages awarded | Around $330 million (against Spribe and Adjarabet) |
| UK outcome | Spribe won an interim injunction against Aviator LLC in 2025 |
| Flutter | Settled separately and now licenses Aviator-branded games from Aviator LLC |
| Status | Ongoing, including an EUIPO case; unresolved outside Georgia |
Where the Aviator Brand Came From
The roots of the dispute reach back before the game most people know. According to Aviator LLC, the Aviator name and logo were created in 2016 and 2017 by Georgian businessman Teimuraz Ugulava, and the trademark was registered in Georgia in 2018 by City Loft, a company he solely owned. The logo was first used for a land-based casino before becoming attached to the crash game, which launched on the Adjarabet platform in January 2019 — at a time when Ugulava still owned Adjarabet.
When the gambling giant Flutter Entertainment bought into Adjarabet later in 2019, Aviator LLC says the rights to the Aviator trademark were deliberately left out of that sale. In 2022, the intellectual property was transferred from City Loft to Aviator LLC, which then went to court to challenge Spribe’s use of the brand. The origin of the game itself is covered on the how Aviator became the biggest crash game page; this dispute concerns the name and image, not the format.
What Each Side Claims
The two sides describe the same facts very differently. Aviator LLC says it holds the original, prior rights to the Aviator name and logo, and that Spribe registered its own Aviator trademarks in 2021 and 2022 in bad faith, infringing that earlier copyright. On that basis it has sought to invalidate Spribe’s marks across multiple jurisdictions.
Spribe rejects the claims outright. The company maintains that it created and owns the Aviator game, including its branding and intellectual property, and describes the claims against it as “bogus.” Crucially, Spribe argues that the Georgian dispute “related solely to the use of a specific logo and branding in Georgia and did not concern ownership of the Aviator game itself” — drawing a sharp line between the game it built and a specific logo at issue in one market. It has also accused Aviator LLC of presenting “contradictory and conflicting” evidence and of obscuring its role through a shifting network of licensing entities. The fuller question of who owns the game and the company is set out on the who owns Aviator page.
The $330 Million Georgian Ruling
The dispute became widely known in August 2024, when a Georgian court of first instance ruled in favour of Aviator LLC’s copyright and trademark claim against Spribe and Adjarabet. The court found infringement, invalidated Spribe’s trademark registrations as having been made in bad faith, and awarded damages reported at around $330 million. Some accounts put the figure at €330 million — notably the same sum Flutter had paid for its stake in Adjarabet.
Spribe and Flutter both initially called the claim meritless, and Spribe appealed. In February 2025 Georgia’s Court of Appeal upheld the lower court, and in May 2025 the Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed Spribe’s appeal as inadmissible, finalising the invalidation of Spribe’s Aviator trademarks in the country where the brand originated. Spribe had already withdrawn the game from the small Georgian market in January 2024.
Spribe’s UK Counter-Win
The Georgian result is not the whole story, and the dispute has not gone one way. In August 2025, a UK court granted Spribe an interim injunction against Aviator LLC, in proceedings connected to a rival Aviator-branded game published at aviator.studio under a licence from Aviator LLC. Spribe described that game as a “copycat” that infringed its own copyright and traded on the goodwill it had built in the Aviator brand. Aviator LLC, for its part, characterised the UK order as an interim injunction of limited scope and pointed out that several of the restrictions Spribe initially sought were withdrawn. Both sides, in other words, can point to a courtroom victory.
Flutter’s Separate Settlement
Flutter took a different path from Spribe. In January 2025, rather than continue fighting, it settled its own dispute with Aviator LLC and agreed a long-term commercial arrangement to supply Aviator-branded crash games, with Flutter recognising Aviator LLC’s rights to the trademark and aeroplane image. That settlement applied only to Flutter; Aviator LLC’s case against Spribe continued separately. The commercial scale that makes the brand worth fighting over is set out on the Spribe net worth and valuation page.
Aviator Dispute Timeline
| Year | Development |
|---|---|
| 2016–2017 | Aviator name and logo created by Teimuraz Ugulava (per Aviator LLC) |
| 2018 | Trademark registered in Georgia by City Loft, owned by Ugulava |
| January 2019 | Aviator crash game launches on the Adjarabet platform |
| 2019 | Flutter buys into Adjarabet; the trademark is left out of the sale |
| 2021–2022 | Spribe registers its own Aviator trademarks; IP transferred to Aviator LLC |
| August 2024 | Georgian first-instance court awards ~$330m and invalidates Spribe’s marks |
| January 2025 | Flutter settles with Aviator LLC and agrees to license the brand |
| February 2025 | Georgian Court of Appeal upholds the ruling |
| May 2025 | Supreme Court of Georgia dismisses Spribe’s appeal |
| August 2025 | Spribe wins a UK interim injunction against Aviator LLC |
| Ongoing | An EUIPO invalidation case and other proceedings continue |
What It Means for Who Owns Aviator
The practical position is more tangled than a single winner. In Georgia, the courts have decided the Aviator trademark belongs to Aviator LLC, and Flutter has chosen to license the brand from it. Yet Spribe continues to develop and operate the game worldwide, won an injunction in the UK, and insists the rulings concern a logo in one market rather than ownership of the game. The dispute remains unresolved outside Georgia, with the European case still open. For now, the safest summary is that Spribe makes and runs the game while the rights to its name and emblem are genuinely contested — a rare split between a product’s commercial owner and the holder of its brand.
Common Questions About the Aviator Lawsuit
What is the Aviator lawsuit about?
It is a dispute over who owns the Aviator name and aeroplane logo — not the crash-game format. Aviator LLC says it holds the original trademark and that Spribe registered competing marks in bad faith; Spribe says it created and owns the game and its branding and calls the claims bogus.
Who is Aviator LLC?
Aviator LLC is the company that holds the original Aviator trademark. According to its own account, the name and logo were created by Georgian businessman Teimuraz Ugulava around 2016 to 2017, registered in 2018 through his company City Loft, and transferred to Aviator LLC in 2022.
Did Spribe lose the Aviator case?
In Georgia, yes — courts at all three levels ruled against Spribe and awarded Aviator LLC around $330 million in damages, finalised by the Supreme Court in May 2025. But Spribe won an interim injunction against Aviator LLC in the UK in 2025, and cases in other jurisdictions remain unresolved, so it is not a clean defeat overall.
How much was the Aviator lawsuit worth?
The Georgian first-instance court awarded damages reported at around $330 million against Spribe and Adjarabet. Some reports give the figure as €330 million — the same amount Flutter had paid for its stake in Adjarabet.
Does the lawsuit mean Aviator will disappear?
No. Spribe continues to operate Aviator across the world, and Flutter has agreed a deal to offer Aviator-branded games through Aviator LLC. The game was withdrawn from the small Georgian market in 2024, but it remains widely available elsewhere.
Is the Aviator dispute over?
No. While the Georgian proceedings are final within that country, the wider dispute continues, including an invalidation case at the European Union Intellectual Property Office and the litigation between Spribe and Aviator LLC in other jurisdictions.
