Tinder and Tantan have finally matched on a settlement

Parent of Tinder, Match Group has filed a stipulation of dismissal against Chinese rival Tantan at the US District Court for the Western District of Texas. The complaint, that Match Group originally filed in March, has now been resolved and the parties have entered into a binding settlement agreement.

For those that have never used Tinder, the app works on the premise that users either swipe left or swipe right based on their interest in the image of another Tinder user. If two users swipe right on each other's respective images then they are matched and able to communicate with each other through the app. Since inception, the app has attracted around 30 million users.

Tantan, Tinder's Chinese rival, was originally accused of copying and infringing elements of the Tinder app that are protected by design patents and trademarks, such as the technology behind matching users and the word 'swipe'. Momo, the Chinese social media app, acquired Tantan for $760 million just a month before Match Group filed their lawsuit against it.

The parties to the dispute, however, have avoided further time and costs involved in the litigation process by settling the dispute out of Court. Although the terms of the settlement agreement have not been disclosed fully, the parties have reportedly resolved their issues, put aside their different views and made an agreement to bear their own costs.

It will be interesting to see whether Match Group's other complaint against location-based dating app Bumble will have the same outcome after Bumble were accused of similar infringements earlier this year. Bumble, however, seem to be standing their ground and have said they will not be bullied or intimidated by 'corporate culture'.

If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniel & Co. on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.