Match Group Wins Lawsuit Against MuzMatch
Contributed by: kellyseal on Monday, May 09 2022 @ 09:15 am
Last modified on Monday, May 09 2022 @ 09:38 am
Match Group has won the lawsuit it brought against dating app Muzmatch for trademark infringement violation.
According to The Guardian, the UK intellectual property and enterprise court ruled in favor of Match, which owns popular apps like Tinder and Hinge. Muzmatch, a niche dating app for Muslim singles, could now be forced to change its name or pay damages, according to The New York Times.
Match Group claimed in the lawsuit that consumers might think Muzmatch was a “sub-brand” of theirs targeting Muslim daters because of its name. Deputy high court judge Nicholas Caddick QC agreed, stating that using “match” in its name “would have led some consumers to assume that the goods and services offered by Muzmatch were somehow connected with or derived from Match,” according to The Guardian[*1] .
Match Group said in a statement: “We are pleased that the court recognised what we have known to be true: that Muzmatch has unfairly benefited from Match Group’s reputation and investment in its brand and was riding Match Group’s coattails for undeserved gain in this highly competitive market.”
Muzmatch said it would appeal the lawsuit and keep the platform operating, though it looks like the company will have to rebrand. In the arguments, Muzmatch said that its name is a play on “muslim” and “match,” and that its app “clearly stated that it provided matchmaking and introduction services for Muslims who were looking for marriage, in accordance with Islamic values.”
In its arguments, Match Group pointed out that Muzmatch used the words “match” and “Tinder” in its metadata to drive traffic to its platform. It also used keyword tags “match-muslim” and “uk-muslim-match,” which Match Group claimed was a violation of its registered trademarks, according to The New York Times[*2] .
Muzmatch’s founder Shahzad Younas noted that his company has spent about $1 million fighting Match Group in both the UK and U.S., and that the lawsuit came after Match Group’s several failed attempts at acquiring the dating app beginning in 2016, including an offer for $35 million, which Younas also rejected. Match Group countered that it was first approached by Younas, according to The Guardian, not the other way around. Muzmatch has about 6 million users.
“This is just their tactic,” Younas said, according to The New York Times. “They’ll court you, they’ll get your data, they’ll try and buy you, and when that doesn’t work, they’ll either go after a competitor or they’ll just kill you. A million dollars for them in legal fees is small change. For us, it’s everything.”