The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has refused to let ‘Political Tinder’ be registered as a trademark, citing the popular dating app.
The board said the trademark, sought by an entity called RLP Ventures LLC, would be confusingly similar to Match Group’s Tinder.
According to Law360, Judge Albert Zervas said: “Opposer’s and applicant’s marks are comprised, either in whole or in part, of the arbitrary term ‘Tinder’.
“Because of the shared term ‘Tinder’, which is the dominant term in applicant’s mark, the marks, when viewed in their entireties, are similar in sound, appearance, meaning and commercial impression.”
RLP Ventures applied in 2014 to register ‘Political Tinder’, in standard characters, as a trademark for both advertising services related to politics and for entertainment services related to politics.
The board noted that Tinder had made several forays into politics, including a ‘Swipe The Vote; campaign ahead of the 2016 election that allowed users to choose a candidate just like “choosing your next boyfriend or girlfriend”.
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