Bumble sues Tinder’s owner Match for $400m over trade secrets, ‘false statements’

A few days ago, we wrote a piece about Tinder’s parent company Match suing its dating app rival Bumble for patent infringement. While that particular case isn’t over just yet, a new counter-case has just emerged.

That’s right.

The plucky bee-themed dating company is now suing Match for US$400-million for “fraudulently” requesting trade secrets. According to a TechCrunch report, Match required the information — in the midst of the company’s drive to purchase Tinder’s rival — to validate a higher offer.

But an offer never came, and Bumble believes the information Match requested was used to benefit it financially in the dating app game.

Tinder’s parent sues Bumble for patent infringement

Match, the company that owns dating app Tinder, is suing its dating app rival Bumble for patent infringement. Read more…

The company also claims that Match’s allegations of patent infringement are “false”.

“This case is simply about forcing Bumble to stop competing with Match and Tinder using Match’s own inventions,” Match wrote in its lawsuit against Tinder’s rival, published earlier this month.

Bumble’s claims are reportedly not a response to Match’s initial lawsuit claiming Bumble used a number of patents that Tinder employs without permission. But it’s difficult to see how it isn’t.

Ultimately, it’s an incredibly complicated situation, especially considering that the digital dating sphere largely consists of these two heavyweights. But what it does make clear is that not everything is fair in love, war and the dating app game.

Feature image: Bumble