JSwipe, the increasingly popular tinder-like app for the Jewish community, has attracted over 375,000 users since its launch last April. Unfortunately, a quick rise to the top is often welcomed with a lawsuit. Sparks Networks, Inc., owner of the well known online dating service JDate, filed a complaint against JSwipe in November alleging (among other things) trademark and patent infringement. The case is still in its early stages, and is set to resume this month.
Sparks launched JDate in 1997 (back then, “Sparks” was known as “MatchNet plc”). Since 1997, Sparks has secured 14 other federally registered trademarks in what it calls the “J family.” Sparks also secured a frequently-licensed patent commonly referred to as the “‘200 Patent.” Basically, it’s the patent for the software that lets users of online dating services know if, and only if, somebody is interested.
Everybody is talking about the trademark issue, however, and the letter “J.” Is JSwipe unjustly profiting off of the “J family” that Sparks has spent decades and millions of dollars building, or does “J,” as a signifier for the Jewish community, belong to the Jewish community? Sparks claims that the lawsuit is not about the letter “J.” That’s believable unless Sparks had never heard of JWed, Jzoog, JCorps, J Street, j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California, or JCrush (a tinder-like Jewish dating app that launched last April…wait…that sounds familiar). Considering that Sparks has suffered a net loss of $29,000,000 in the past three years, it’s tough to say what this lawsuit is really about.
By Brian Unger
Abe Cohn
Abe is managing partner of Cohn Legal, PLLC, Head of the firm’s Intellectual Property and Transactional Group, and works in the New York office in Midtown Manhattan. Abe is committed to his client's success.