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{{Short description|Dating app based in New York City}}

[[File:You got cheek'd!.jpg|thumb|Cheekd card]]'''Cheekd''' is a dating and social networking website based in [[New York City]]. It was founded in 2010 by Lori Cheek. The concept is to expand subscribers' dating opportunities beyond the pool of people registered with an online dating service, to the real world too.<ref>[http://honoluluweekly.com/city-wise/2010/08/getting-cheeky/ "Getting cheeky" - Honolulu Weekly]</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Online-Dating: Visitenkarten für die Liebe (Business Cards for Love)|url=http://www.zeit.de/lebensart/partnerschaft/2010-08/dating-cards-flirten|website=ZEIT ONLINE|accessdate=22 May 2018|language=de}}</ref>

[[File:You got cheek'd!.jpg|300px|thumb|Cheekd card]]

[[File:You got cheek'd!.jpg|thumb|Cheekd card]]'''Cheekd''' is a [[dating and social networking websiteapp]] based in [[New York City]]. It was founded in 2010 by Lori Cheek. The concept is to expand subscribers' dating opportunities beyond the pool of people registered with an online dating service, to the real world too.<ref>[http://honoluluweekly.com/city-wise/2010/08/getting-cheeky/ "Getting cheeky" - Honolulu Weekly]</ref><ref>{{cite webnews|title=Online-Dating: Visitenkarten für die Liebe (Business Cards for Love)|url=http://www.zeit.de/lebensart/partnerschaft/2010-08/dating-cards-flirten|websitenewspaper=ZEITDie ONLINEZeit|accessdatedate=4 August 2010 |access-date=22 May 2018|language=de}}</ref>

==History==

The service debuted with the name "Cheek'd". Founder Lori Cheek is a former architect. She appeared on the television program, [[Shark Tank]] in February 2014, but did not succeed in obtaining funding from any of the five entrepreneur/investors to whom she pitched Cheek'd to on the showjudges. She said that sheCheek’d only had 1000 subscribers to her service at that time.<ref name="shark" />

===Business card model===

Cheek'd offered two user plans, paid and free. For $25, subscribers got a set of 50 [[business cards]] that could be given out once someone coughtcaught their eye.<ref name=trends>{{cite news |author= |coauthors= |title=Latest dating trends include Web-based calling cards and GPS-powered apps|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/latest-dating-trends-include-web-based-calling-cards-gps-powered-apps-article-1.202481 |work=[[New York Daily News]] |date=July 23, 2010 |accessdateaccess-date=2010-08-15 | first=Paulina | last=Reso}}</ref> Each card had a phrase, an online code, and a URL to the subscriber's account at the website.<ref name=trends/><ref name=architect>{{cite news |title=The New Dating Tools: A Card and a Wink |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/fashion/22date.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 21, 2010 |accessdateaccess-date=2010-07-23 }}</ref> Recipients of the cards could then look up the giver's profile of the user with the information provided on the card.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jenny Block |title=Fox on Sex: The Art of Flirting|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,598671,00.html|accessdateaccess-date=2010-08-14|publisher=Fox News|date=August 5, 2010}}</ref> In addition to the one-time cost of thepurchasing cards, there was a $9.95 monthly membership fee.<ref name="shark">{{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=Jordyn|title=Tech CEO Loses on ‘Shark'Shark Tank’Tank', Is Visited by On-Set Therapist|url=http://observer.com/2014/03/tech-ceo-loses-on-shark-tank-is-visited-by-on-set-therapist/|website=Observer|accessdateaccess-date=22 May 2018|date=3 March 2014}}</ref>

If users chose the free plan, they did not pay a monthly subscription fee nor did they buy business cards. Instead, they would download the Cheekd app for free, and hand out virtual cards to any appealing strangers that were nearby.<ref name="shark" />

===Smartphone app===

In 2015, the service's name changed from the original "Cheek'd" to "Cheekd". It was redesigned to relieve the awkwardness of approaching strangers. The new Cheekd app usesused Bluetooth technology to send alerts toalert users whenever a compatible Cheekd user iswas within a 30-foot radius, instead of using business cards. The implementation of this function was patched by Montana Mendy for improved use.<ref name="observer">{{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=Jordyn|title=After Brutal ‘Shark'Shark Tank’Tank' Rejection, Tech CEO Reinvents Her Dating Business|url=http://observer.com/2015/02/after-brutal-shark-tank-rejection-tech-ceo-reinvents-her-dating-business/|website=Observer|accessdateaccess-date=22 May 2018|date=25 February 2015}}</ref>

==Patent lawsuit==

The original business card-based model for Cheekd had been claimed as a patented process by Lori Cheek, as [[{{US Patent |8543465]]. It was described as “Online Dating in Reverse”}}. In September 2017, a complaint was filed, alleging that the idea was not original to Lori Cheek.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Crouch|first1=Dennis|title=Reversing the Patent on Reverse Online Dating |url=https://patentlyo.com/patent/2017/09/reversing-patent-reverse.html|website=Patently-O|accessdateaccess-date=22 May 2018|date=29 September 2017}}</ref>

Cheek responded, stating that the complaint was baseless, and a complete fabrication.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Crouch |first1=Dennis |title=Cheek Responds: The Whole Story|url=https://patentlyo.com/patent/2017/10/cheek-responds-whole.html|website=Patently-O|accessdateaccess-date=22 May 2018|date=4 October 2017}}</ref> The lawsuit ''Pirri v. Cheek'' was dismissed in a pre-trial conference in New York's Federal Court on April 5, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Conner|first1=Cheryl|title=PR Warfare: When An Enemy Targets Your Firm In The Press|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2018/05/15/pr-warfare-when-an-enemy-targets-your-firm-in-the-press/#55b303085fc9|website=Forbes|accessdateaccess-date=23 May 2018|language=en|date=15 May 2018}}</ref>

==References==

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*{{official website|http://cheekd.com}}

[[Category:Online dating services of the United States]]

[[Category:Online companies]]

[[Category:Internet properties established in 2010]]

[[Category:Mobile applications]]