Match Group Accuses Bumble of Exploiting Coronavirus in IP Lawsuit

6th April 2020 GDI

Tinder has accused Bumble of exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to delay the ongoing intellectual property lawsuit.

In a letter filed in Texas federal court Friday, attorneys for Match Group claimed that Bumble was using the logistical problems posed by the coronavirus pandemic, specifically remote depositions, as an opportunity to postpone a July trial.

Match sued Bumble in March 2018, claiming the company infringed both patents and trademarks by launching a ‘copycat’ dating app, with similar layout and ‘swiping’ features to Tinder.

Bumble was founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd, an ex-Tinder executive who once sued the company for discrimination.

It quickly retaliated with a counter lawsuit that accused Match of filing “bogus intellectual property claims” after it failed to buy the smaller rival. Match later called that case “nothing more than a publicity stunt”.

Bumble later dropped the parallel lawsuit, but has also brought cases to the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board to try and invalidates Match’s patents.

Those cases are all pending but it is believed that Bumble will be successful in throwing out the allegations.

According to Law360, Match Group’s lawyers wrote: “COVID-19 presents a number of uncharted issues to be addressed and Match has always been willing to work with defendants in good faith to address those issues while working to prepare this case to go to trial on schedule.”