Tinder is owned by the global dating company Match Group. Their case against 3nder states that the name of the app is pronounced ‘Thrinder’, which is very similar in pronunciation to ‘Tinder’ and hence can cause a lot of confusion between the two. This is despite the fact that 3nder is a small, separate company in its own right. Tinder also claims that the name gives their non-monogamous rivals an 'unfair advantage'.

The fightback from 3nder, however, turned out to be quite bizarre. On Monday they launched the #TinderSuckMySocks campaign, whereby 3nder users were encouraged to post pictures of their socks. According to the company’s founder, Dimo Trifonov, Tinder are essentially ‘loading a nuclear weapon’ against his company, which currently employs eight people.

The campaign has gained support online from the app’s fans. This has actually caused a considerable amount of anti-Tinder sentiment.

Trifonov does admit that Tinder’s parent company does have the legal means to wipe him out. ‘If I’m realistic, they can bankrupt us,’ he stated. ‘It’s not about that though, it’s about right or wrong.’ The claim from Tinder is based on a legal letter. This letter also demanded that Trifonov shut down his website and remove all references to his name, as well as those mentioned by third parties.

Trifonov also states that the name of his app has different pronunciations in different countries and posed the question as to whether Tinder actually had the right to copyright an existing word or even combination of letters. He also said that Tinder’s predecessor was Grindr, a gay dating app whose name is only different by a couple of letters.

'The whole thing is unfair… can I trademark the word coffee and then sue every coffee shop in the world?’ he asked. ‘Who does that? Evil corporations do that.’ The web designer says that the move could destroy his eight-person strong company. This threat also revealed itself after 3nder’s period of rapid growth, whereby they grew 30% in 2015 with a revenue rise of 980%.

There is a planned launch on Android OS for 3nder as well, which will help the app to expand beyond the pool of Apple users it currently lays claim to. This is a considerable turnaround for a company that faced bankruptcy last year before managing to get a $500,000 investment.