JSwipe users are backing their dating app of choice in its legal battle with long-established love-seeking software JDate.

David Yarus, chief executive of JSwipe, launched the campaign - named “David vs. Goliath - Keep JSwipe alive!” - to fund legal costs, and has so far raised more than £18,500.

JDate is accusing JSwipe, a free Jewish version of Tinder which has accrued more than 380,000 customers in its first 16 months, of copying its name and technology.

Michael Egan, chief executive of Spark Networks, which owns JDate, said JSwipe had “launched their business by mimicking the JDate brand, causing confusion in the marketplace.”

But he clarified that reports identifying the ‘J’ at the front of both apps’ names - a characteristic shared by dating companies Jzoog and JCrush - as the problem were incorrect.

Mr Egan said: “This lawsuit is not about a single letter of the alphabet. This case is about the infringement of our technology and the illegal co-opting of our brand.

“We have trademarked ‘JDate,’ not the letter ‘J’. In today’s vernacular the word ‘swipe’ has become synonymous with date. This is not the case with ‘crush’ or ‘zoog.’”

The original complaint for the suit, which will be heard in New York next year, explained that the name JSwipe was similar to JDate “in appearance, tenor, sound and meaning.”

JDate also claimed that JSwipe had infringed its intellectual property rights by using its patented “Method and Apparatus for Detection of Reciprocal Interests or Feelings and Subsequent Notification” - a way of connecting people who have anonymously indicated they like each other.

The dating company filed a similar lawsuit in 2011 against competitors Zoosk, OkCupid and 2RedBeans over the latter issue. It is understood that Zoosk and OkCupid settled out of court, while the suit against 2RedBeans - a site for Chinese-American singles - was dismissed.

Mr Yarus, who launched JSwipe last April, said he was “humbled and inspired” by the support his company has received, and pledged to “defend our rights vigorously” against claims he called “astonishing” and without merit.

“Seeing the support and overwhelming love across social media is really powerful. It's what keeps us going, keeps us waking up every morning to fight the fight.

“If this is the cost of bringing fresh thinking to the community - bring it on. We have no concern about the time it will take to fight off. We will not stop providing free love to the community in the way they want it, on the devices they use, with people in their age group.”

He added that the legal battle was “more than two businesses fighting - it's a community issue".

“As a company that’s particularly concerned about the future of the Jewish people, for us to come under fire legally from an organisation that also claims to care about the Jewish people is just astonishing," he said. It makes me question their motives and intentions.”