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OKCupid.com has filed for a patent, which is still pending on their matching algorithm. The "patent pending" claim is found here: https://www.okcupid.com/help/match-percentages

The sentence reads, "...there’s a patent pending, so no funny business."

I've searched using Google's patent search, as well as the Application search found here: http://patft.uspto.gov/ I can't find the patent application for OKCupid or their parent company IAC/InterActiveCorp.

Could anyone point me in the right direction?

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  • Patent applications are not visible to the public until they are published. That is usually done 18 months after the earliest filing date. In some cases applications are not published and only become publically visible when and if they issue as granted patents.
    – George White ♦
    Feb 8, 2014 at 18:17
  • You might try searching by inventor name using the names of the officers or founders of that company.
    – George White ♦
    Feb 22, 2014 at 22:06

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Search for assignment of patents and patent applications in the USPTO assignments database. The first assignor is usually the inventor (a human being), and the first assignee is whoever owns the patent (usually a corporation).

Searching for an Assignee Name of IAC yielded dozens of hits, mostly for IAC SEARCH & MEDIA, INC. based in Oakland Ca, and one assignment for IAC/InterActiveCorp.

The patent assigned to IAC/InterActiveCorp. is 7,062,457 "Method and system for entertainment production financing". This doesn't look like the "critical" patent for OKCupid's dating site.

Searching for an Assignee Name of OKCupid yielded zero hits.

You may have additional success in searching for the possible inventors' names under Assignor Name.

Hope that helps.

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