Muzmatch vows to fight legal action by Tinder owners

Muslim dating app Muzmatch has released a defiant statement saying it will fight an upcoming case in which the Match Group - the firm behind dating apps Tinder, Hinge and OKCupid - has accused it of trademark infringement.

The US-based Match Group says that Muzmatch, which was founded in 2011 and now has millions of users worldwide, has “attempt[ed] to ride on the coat-tail” of its registered trademarks through the use of the word “match” in its metadata to boost its traffic.

The hearing will take place later in January at the UK Intellectual Property and Enterprise Court (IPEC) in London.

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Muzmatch founder Shahzad Younas vowed to fight the legal action and reaffirmed his commitment to the brand.

“If we lose? We will be forced to change our brand name, and the name muzmatch will die. We will likely have to pay material damages. We fight, because we must. It is crucial that products built for our community are built BY our community, and that we do not allow ourselves to be dictated and controlled by others. Our mission is to transform how Muslims meet and marry,” Younas wrote.

Match Group’s legal action comes years after a series of failed bids to take over Muzmatch. The dating app giant initiated the attempts in 2017, with a final offer of $35m being refused by Younas in 2018.

In a court filing, Match says “Muzmatch sought to mimic the Tinder app’s functionality, trade off of Match’s name, brand and general look and feel, meet user expectations that Match created, and build a business entirely on a Tinder-clone, distinguished only by Muzmatch’s Muslim cultural-specific marketing strategy.”

Muzmatch has denied the accusations and said that Match does not have a monopoly over the word ‘match’.

The lawsuit is not the first taken out by Match Group against rival dating platforms. In 2018, Match sued popular dating app Bumble, resulting in a counter claim from the competitor.

The two firms reached an agreement to end litigation in June 2020, however did not disclose details of the settlement.