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Tinder’s Swiping and Matching Model was Patented in 2013

Axios.com, following up on a claim made by Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg, have located Tinder’s ‘Matching process system and method’ patent.

During Match Group’s Q4 earnings call, Ginsberg said: “On the product front, Tinder has been on the cutting edge of innovation since its inception in 2012, inventing the swipe gesture, which has since become this cultural phenomenon of ‘swipe right’ and ‘swipe left’ and that is often imitated on mobile products.

“Tinder also invented the ‘double blind opt-in’ whereby two users need to ‘like’ each other before they can message. In fact, these features are so innovative that Tinder was granted a patent in the dating category by the US Patent & Trademark office which we think is valuable.”

The patent relates to the system of mutual anonymous ‘right swipes’ before any communication is initiated – something several other dating apps have since implemented.

The application is dated October 21, 2013.

Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder of Bumble and ex-Tinder employee,  is not listed as one of the inventors on the patent.

Ginsberg has not said whether or not Match Group plan to enforce the patent at any stage, and it is not clear whether features like women speaking first would save competitors from a lawsuit.

The details of the patent may also be relevant in completing some of Match Group’s acquisitions, Axios reports.  

The patent abstract reads:

“A method for profile matching includes receiving a plurality of user profiles, each user profile comprising traits of a respective user.

“The method includes receiving a preference indication for a first user profile of the plurality of user profiles. The method also includes determining a potential match user profile of the plurality of user profiles based on the preference indication for the first user profile.

“The method also includes presenting the potential match user profile to a second user.”

Find the patent here.

Scott Harvey

Scott is the Editor of Global Dating Insights. Raised in Dorset, he holds a BA from The University of Nottingham and an MSc from Lund University School of Economics and Management. Previously he has written about politics, economics and technology for various online publications.

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