Current Affairs

Tinder is trying to shut down threesome hook-up app ‘3nder’

May 23 2016
Written by Nick Duffy

Hook-up giant Tinder has threatened legal action against a rival app that facilitates threesomes.

Tinder, part of the Match.com online dating empire, has seen a boom in popularity among both gay and straight people looking to hook-up, becoming a popular alternative to Grindr among men.

However, indie developer Dimo Trifoniv spotted a gap in the market due to Tinder’s one-on-one model of play, and in 2014 started work on ‘3nder’.

3nder – pronounced ‘Thrinder’, is intended to allow groups of three or more people to meet up, and aims to cater to polyamorous people as well as those with alternative sexualities and the kink community.

However, the app is under threat – after Tinder allegedly filed a trademark infringement complaint at the high court.

According to the Guardian, the company’s lawyers argued in a court complaint that 3nder is “phonetically … closely similar to the TINDER Mark, as the obvious pronunciation …. rhymes with Tinder”.

Trifonov said: “Our mission and our values could not be more distinct from those of Tinder. We have and always will put ethics and aesthetics first.

“Our members seek something else entirely when they come to us – to explore their sexual curiosity and date in an open-minded space.

“With so many sexualities and relationship structures left out of Tinder and the Match Group offerings, there is room for all of us. No one should have a monopoly on love.”

He explained: “3nder was created after my amazing soulmate, girlfriend, partner Ana wrote me a love letter about feelings she had for a French girl (who doesn’t fall for the French?).

“I was so touched by it, I wanted to prove to her that there are so many curious people like her who fall for a human’s soul whatever their gender and sexuality. So 3nder was my love letter to Ana. I won’t let greedy white collars destroy my love letter.”

He added that Tinder’s lawyers have warned him to immediately shut down.

However, the developer contends that Tinder doesn’t have ownership of the “-nder” suffix for hook-up apps, given it was pre-dated by Grindr, while the two are unlikely to be confused due to “3nder’s distinct mission and user base”

Trifonov continued: “There is a robust history of large companies attacking small businesses. 3nder acknowledges the impact Tinder has had on the world by introducing ‘swipe dating’ but harbours zero ambitions to be similar. We target an audience with completely different needs”.