Monday, March 19, 2018

Tinder Sues Bumble Over Patents

Los Angeles-based dating app developer Tinder's parent company, Match Group, has sued Tinder competitor Bumble in the Texas Western District Court over patent infringement, alleging that Bumble is virtually identical to Tinder. According to the lawsuit, Match Group, LLC vs. Bumble Trading Inc., it is suing Bumble over both patent infringement and stealing trade secrets. Bumble was founded by former Tinder employees. Bumble's founders left Tinder in 2014, starting up Bumble specifically to provide more control to women using a dating app. One of Bumble's co-founders, Whitney Wolfe, was involved in a sexual harasssment lawsuit against Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen. As part of the settlement of that sexual harassment lawsuit, Wolfe was stripped of her title as another "co-founder" of Tinder. Bumble reportedly rejected a takeover offer from Match Group last August.