Tinder and Hoffmann Eitle successfully invalidate Hoccer patent

Hoccer had filed an infringement suit against the US Match Group and three European companies over its EP 2 454 894. Hoccer’s aim was likely to bring about a licence agreement concerning the dating service Tinder. Initially, Hoccer was successful. In 2019, it obtained an injunction from Munich Regional Court against Match Group and Tinder.

However, the dating app is now off the table after the Federal Court of Justice under presiding judge Klaus Bacher declared EP 894 null and void in the final instance (case ID: XZR 82/22). The patent protected a system and method for transmitting data between communication terminals.

Bacher and the Federal Patent Court judges Fabian Hoffmann, Hermann Deichfuß, Nina Franziska Marx and Tim Crummenerl doubted the inventive step and thus put a premature end to the dispute.

Hoccer developed messaging for ad-hoc communication on mobile devices. This included its Hoccer app, which has enabled encrypted data exchange between users since 2009. Hoccer and Tinder are similar in this respect. Tinder is a location-based, app-driven dating site where users swipe through profiles to find a match.

Quick success at the start

In January 2019, Hoccer filed an infringement case for the German part of EP 894. The four defendants in the case included three US entities and its European entity MTCH Technologie Services. The case was split into two corresponding proceedings.

The European defendant MTCH did not attend the infringement hearing, leading Munich Regional Court to issue a default judgment in June 2019. The judgment included an injunction. As a result, Germany was not a viable location for the Tinder app for some time. According to JUVE Patent information, the amount in dispute is said to be more than €100 million.

Fortunes turn

To avoid the shut down, MTCH requested a stay of enforcement of the injunction, which Munich Regional Court granted in October 2019. Subsequently, the Tinder dating service was able to operate in Germany again.

Then, in November 2020 as a result of the main proceedings, Munich Regional Court dismissed both of Hoccer’s lawsuits (case IDs: 7 O 255/19 and 7 O 925/19). The composition of the panel had changed in the meantime. The judges concluded that Match Group and Tinder had not infringed EP 894.

Hoccer appealed to Munich Higher Regional Court, but the infringement claims have been dormant ever since. The Match Group also filed a nullity action at the Federal Patent Court, which declared the Hoccer patent invalid in 2022. Hoccer also appealed against this decision and has now lost again before the Federal Court of Justice.

No money for Hoccer

As the Hoccer app has failed to establish itself on the market, the Berlin-based company will also have to forgo licence payments.

Following the ruling by the Federal Court of Justice, Hoccer will now have to withdraw its appeal to the Higher Regional Court in the infringement dispute over EP 894.

A varied legal history

Hoffmann Eitle and Simmons & Simmons successfully turned the tables for Match Group. Patent attorneys and Hoffmann Eitle partners Dominik Scheible and Thomas Becher, along with Simmons & Simmons partner Thomas Gniadek, represented Match Group in the oral hearing before the Federal Court of Justice.

The two law firms were only retained after Munich Regional Court handed down its default judgment.

Despite being based in Ireland, the European entity of MTCH has no regional office. Irish law firm Arthur Cox was accountable for the company’s secretarial and company services in Ireland. At the time, MTCH claimed that the complaint served by Hoccer in March 2019 was received by Arthur Cox but not forwarded to MTCH until late May. As a result, Tinder’s representative was not present in the oral hearing, leading to the default judgment.

Following this descrepency, Thomas Gniadek — at that time partner at Noerr’s Munich office — won a pitch in May 2019 to act as general counsel for the US and Irish entities.

Hoffmann Eitle was brought in shortly after, mainly to lead the counterattack against EP 894.

Hoccer has a long-standing relationship with Wildanger partner Alexander Reetz. Reetz brought Hoccer as a client when he moved to Wildanger in January 2019. He filed the complaint against Tinder together with partner Alexander Wiese.

Felix Gross, patent attorney and partner at Maikowski & Ninnemann, has also been involved since the beginning of the dispute. He led the nullity proceedings at the Federal Court of Justice.