Match party (owner of Tinder/Hinge and 50+ different online dating services) become suing muzmatch in the UK plus the US

I, Shahzad Younas, arranged muzmatch as a webpage over 10 years in the past (2011) as a side job whilst I found myself nevertheless working at Morgan Stanley to assist my personal community. Main-stream solutions only failed to cater to the requirements of Muslims after a life companion perhaps not everyday relationships.

2011 – The muzmatch website had been very revolutionary at the time. No monthly fees, and got totally PAYG – pay 50p to view photographs, A?1 to talk to you. Current alternatives had been dreadful.

I spread the word in the slightest feasible, standing outside mosques after prayers providing leaflets and getting little notes on vehicle windshields in Muslim markets, and additionally just becoming usually irritating

This site grew, with many using it, and also many , smart phones are removing and that I realised PROGRAMS were the long run, perhaps not internet sites. muzmatch had to be an app. It just needed to be!

We give up my 9 12 months financial financial job and grabbed the leap. Through the room of my home, we learned building apps.

I designed the initial type of the muzmatch app in MS Word, and learned simple tips to code, taking 4 several months to build the iOS app, and four weeks to build the Android os software. close the existing site all the way down and founded the software! muzmatch is reborn!

muzmatch got and is the sole app I have actually ever built. This is the very first international Muslim relationships application to exist.

The application established with zero members, and develops naturally, with countless brand-new people joining globally. 2016 – we create my first hire.

We applied to Y Combinator, and flew over to SF for interview with Paul Buchheit (inventor of Gmail). Sadly we had been rejected considering we were pre revenue. YC wanted united states to prove this could be an actual companies.

We’re a tiny startup fighting to guard ourselves contrary to the largest dating organization on the planet

2016 – we register trademarks for MUZMATCH in the usa and European countries. you subscription passes through and it is nonetheless good now.

Match cluster attorneys place all of our European TM enrollment and file an objection to they saying really moving off their own match/match cardio concept TM (best recorded in 2015!)

2016 specific lawyers give us letters demanding us to cease use of the MUZMATCH brand, claiming they’d not allow another dating company to truly have the English word match in their name.

Interestingly they presumably attemptedto acquire Bumble twice, and when declined both period, charged Bumble for the very same patent violation boasts over their own use of swipe motions inside software

We refuse. Additionally they asked we alter the take a look and style of the logo alone. We really do not and will never wish to be confused with complement class – they hurts our very own business is associated with them.

We change the brand name, and remove the heart logo design and alter the font utilized in the muzmatch logo. Affairs get quiet. Match cluster continue steadily to submit arguments to your EU Trademark.

2017 – muzmatch grows like hell. We reapplied to Y Combinator (with income and big progress) and luckily after traveling out to SF, muzmatch was accepted with the summer time 17 batch!

We elevated a $1.75M seed spherical post demo time. 2017 – Whilst I became in SF in YC, US Match team Chief Executive Officer Mandy Ginsberg keen to learn more about all of us, therefore we bring videos name with her.

– fit people contact all of us claiming they certainly were thinking about observing united states further and find out about the companies. We had been flattered. Constantly advisable that you get acquainted with your competitors. Their EU CEO/CFO/Biz Dev come to our offices in London.

We increase the continuing TM objections they have been processing. They refuse to back down. We lodge a UK trademark enrollment for MUZMATCH.

2018 – Match team ask united states with their practices in Paris, and then we signal an NDA and show some internal information. I became eager to educate yourself on how they discover all of our companies and prospective. After some back and forth on data, they generate their particular first present for all of us – $15M. Only a little higher than our very own seed valuation at YC. A lowball give within my eyes.

A couple of months afterwards they upped this provide with respect to many additional terminology. We stated no cheers.

– they make another greater provide of $25M with a few extra clawback terms if we didn’t struck particular targets. We said no thank you. We continue raising the team and biz, with dating sites for IOS professionals a group of around 7 visitors.

– We hit one million customers on muzmatch! Businesses developing really. Match people invite you for lunch in the Ivy, with team CFO Gary Swidler. They feature us $35M for companies.

I got just about forgotten all curiosity about this conversation together with provide ended up being thoroughly unexciting. Didn’t observe how Match would help us with expanding. muzmatch had been needs to take-over the planet. I refused their unique offer and mentioned let’s simply stay in touch.

2019 – complement Group next get a Muslim competition, Harmonica, stating your Muslim market ended up being ‘not correctly offered by american goods’.

Months afterwards they sue muzmatch in the UK IPEC courts alleging signature violation We react straight back, saying our very own brand name is actually a redline that people will safeguard on end. It has got existed for over years, with no confusion with Match team, and acts an industry that they have never sought to provide until now.

– Match Group within the ante and lodge case against muzmatch in Waco, Tx alleging patent violation (use of swipe gesture) and cyberpiracy (use in our MUZMATCH brand).

– it can be pricey litigating in the US. We produced the economic decision to settle our US instance with complement team.

We decide to remove the swipe motion through the muzmatch app also. Generated zero influence on the merchandise. Swiping in fact is lifeless.

– We struck 5 million users globally, busting inner records every week – record information, matches and successes (over 150,000 someone finding their own partner on muzmatch!). Professionals grows to over 60 folk and counting. App live-in 15 languages.

Our very own UK suit vs complement party remains live, so we visit trial 17th/18th Jan on UK IPEC.

When we shed? We will be compelled to transform our very own brand name, and label muzmatch will perish. We will likely need to pay material damage.

We fight, because we should. It is vital that merchandise built for our very own society are made BY all of our people, and therefore we really do not let ourselves is influenced and subject to rest.

We ask for prayers, duas and close desires from your people, our very own subscribers and all all those who have benefited from muzmatch and found their own spouse.