Tinder takes swipe at Bumble for alleged patent infringement

Match Group currently operates Tinder, OkCupid, PlentyOfFish and Match.com – cumulatively accounting for a large segment of the online dating market.

In a lawsuit filed in Texas, Match says that it invented the phrases “swipe left” and “swipe right” when it comes to dating apps, and accuses Bumble of infringing on its property by using them.

According to TechCrunch, Match had a $450m (£321m) offer to acquire Bumble – which has been described as a “feminist Tinder” for requiring women to initiate the conversation with any potential matches – turned down last November.

On Friday, Match filed a lawsuit against Bumble, alleging the app has copied Tinder’s “unique card-based swipe design”.

It noted that Bumble was founded by three ex-Tinder executives who built “a business entirely on a Tinder-clone, distinguished only by Bumble’s women-talk-first marketing strategy”.

The suit argues that Bumble’s co-founders had released “at least two features that [they] learned of and developed confidentially while at Tinder in violation of confidentiality agreements”.

Although Bumble declined the $450m offer from Match last November, the talks are understood to be ongoing.

Whether the lawsuit will outlast the acquisition attempt is not clear.

Neither Tinder nor Bumble were immediately able to offer comment.