Match Group Sues Dating App MuzMatch for Trademark Infringement

Match Group, owner of the popular dating apps Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge, has sued dating app MuzMatch for Trademark infringement.

The online dating company said that MuzMatch, a British-based matchmaking app for Muslims, has copied their products and services, according to The Daily Mail. Match Group pointed to the use of the word “match” in the app’s metadata, which are keywords used by companies to make their products more prominent in Internet search findings. Match Group says that MuzMatch has included keywords like “match-muslim” and “uk-muslim-match,” which the company says are its registered marks that MuzMatch is co-opting for their own benefit.

MuzMatch rejects the allegations, saying that Match Group doesn’t have claim to the word “match.” The British company also has a U.S. copyright registration for the wordmark “Muzmatch” that has been in place since 2015, as well as in France and Germany.

MuzMatch also maintains that its goals are very different from Match Group apps, and that it provides a matchmaking service specifically for those seeking marriage and adhering to Islamic values. Users who pursue “casual dates and sexual conversations [are] blocked from the app,” according to The Daily Mail.

British-Asian Shahzad Younas, who founded Muzmatch in 2011 as a marriage website for Muslim singles, is fighting the lawsuit. He told U.K.’s The National: “The whole reason why we exist is because they don't serve our market and never have.” He went on to say: “Our markets are separate and it actually hurts us to be confused with Match Group and Tinder so we defend the brand, hence why we go to trial.”

This was not the first time Match Group accused MuzMatch of trademark infringement – it did so back in 2016 when it opposed the app’s EU trademark registration, but then a year later, tried to acquire the app. In fact, Match Group tried to acquire MuzMatch four times, including with an offer as high as $35 million, but were turned down. 

Match Group also sued the company in the U.S. in 2019, alleging patent infringement around the use of the swipe gesture on MuzMatch as well as its branding. MuzMatch agreed to settle that lawsuit and removed the swiping feature along with other changes to the app, according to The National. Younas said it was to put a stop to all the legal action, which was costing the startup money it needed for development.

MuzMatch hit 5 million members in 2021, and has ramped up to 60 staff members since landing about $7 million in funding in 2019. Younas was a trader at Morgan Stanley before he quit to develop the startup in 2014.

A hearing is scheduled in London’s UK Intellectual Property and Enterprise Court on January 17th.