Tinder sues rival for trademark infringement

Dating app Tinder has sued a rival app called 3nder for trademark infringement.

According to a statement issued by 3nder yesterday, May 23, Tinder claimed there was “possibly confusion” between the two companies.

Tinder allows users to ‘swipe right’ if they approve of a person’s photograph and to ‘swipe left’ if not. Users who both swiped right on each other’s profiles are then connected and can start a conversation.

It was granted a trademark for its name in 2014. 3nder is a dating app founded in 2014 for “curious, open minded singles and couples” and purports to cover 23 sexualities.

It claimed that Tinder is continuing to “attack” the company during a “time of growth” for the company and cites a “lack of ownership” of the word “nd(e)r”.

3nder has since set up a social media campaign called #Tindersuckmysocks because its founder works “16 hours a day” because of the lawsuit and “will forget to do his laundry so his socks are dirty.”

He sent his socks to Tinder and is asking supporters of the app to photograph their own socks.

Dimo Trifonov, founder of 3nder, said: “Our mission and our values could not be more distinct from those of Tinder. We have and always will put ethics and aesthetics first … With so many sexualities and relationship structures left out of Tinder, there is room for all of us. No one should have a monopoly on love".