Bumble Retaliates, Suing Match Group for $400 Million

Bumble has filed a lawsuit accusing Match Group of multiple infringements, including the fraudulent obtaining of trade secrets.

The case has been opened two weeks after Match Group accused Bumble of the misappropriation of trade secrets and infringing patents.

The new lawsuit highlights the efforts of Match Group to acquire Bumble in the past, and alleges that it opened its case to make Bumble less attractive to other companies.

“Unwilling to pay fair value for Bumble, Match tried to poison Bumble in the investment market by filing bogus intellectual property claims to wrongfully disparage the Bumble platform,” the lawsuit reads.

“[Match] published false or disparaging information about Bumble, including statements in the press falsely claiming that Bumble infringed Match’s intellectual property, as well as false statements in the Lawsuit”.

Bumble further alleges that Match Group asked to see confidential information during acquisition talks, promising this would lead to a higher offer.

No offer came and, allegedly, Match Group instead used the confidential information to benefit their own brands.

Bumble is seeking damages of $400 million, and an injunction that would prevent Match Group from making use of the fraudulently obtained information.

Mashable reports that the six areas of concern are: tortious interference with prospective business relations, fraud, (violation of the) Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act, unfair competition, promissory estoppel and business and commercial disparagement.

Bumble adds that is has “suffered special damages, as the disparagement by Match has chilled the market for an investment in Bumble.”

A judge may choose to consolidate the two cases, TechCrunch reports.

Read more here.