Tinder is reportedly suing 3nder, a rival dating app targeted at people who want threesomes, over the similarity between their names.

3nder, founded in 2014, bills itself as the world's leading dating app for “curious, open-minded singles and couples,” and specialises in letting users find partners for threesomes.

The company claims to have been “ordered to immediately cease operations” by Tinder, which reportedly believes the similarity between the apps' names could cause confusion for users.

In a statement, 3nder said it was “confident” none of its members would ever confuse the two apps, and drew attention to Tinder's lack of ownership of the '-nd(e)r' suffix, used by similar services like Grindr and Adult Friend Finder.

Dimo Trifonov, the founder of 3ndr, said: “Our mission and our values could not be more distinct from those of Tinder.”

“With so many sexualities and relationship structures left out of Tinder and the Match Group [Tinder's parent company] offerings, there is room for all of us.”

“No one should have a monopoly on love,” he said.

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Trifonov acknowledged that Tinder introduced the 'swipe dating' mechanic which 3ndr also uses, but said his company has “zero ambitions” to be similar and targets an audience with “completely different needs.”

3nder raised $500,000 (£346,000) in investment in February 2015, and is now funded by an optional membership fees from users. The company believes that a lawsuit from Tinder, which has been valued in the billions, would be enough to sink them.

In a press release, 3nder said that as a fledgling startup, its staff often don't have time to do their laundry. In protest at the lawsuit, it is now encouraging its users to send Tinder pictures of their dirty socks over social media with the hashtag #TinderSuckMySocks, in the hope it will convince the dating giant to drop the case.