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Anti-litter app Littergram does two things – social justice and infringing Instagram's trademark

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By Luis D.

Updated: Apr 29, 2016, 7:03 AM

Anti-litter app Littergram does two things – social justice and infringing Instagram's trademark

On a good day, Instagram is full of the sunniest of photos. On a bad day, it reeks of scandals. Today's one of those days, for Instagram is pressing against the creator of British anti-litter app Littergram to change its name on the ground of trademark infringement. Littergram promotes the cause of registering littering as an anti-social behavior (like drunk driving) by letting users snap photos of garbage and pollution, then report their location to their council.

Founder Danny Lucas went on to register the brand in December 2015, but Instagram lawyers stepped in, saying that Insta appreciates the social objectives and respects Mr. Lucas's efforts, but the name needs to go away. They maintain that the brand's product "uses and relies on social media usage" in the same way as Instagram, and is therefore exploiting a similar-sounding and established trademark.

Lucas uploaded a video containing a personal plea to Facebook founder and Instagram owner Mark Zuckerberg, in which he explained that changing the brand "would destroy all our ingenuity and hard work." A spokesman for the social network argued that Littergram's motives are admirable and that there has to be a way for such an app to operate without infringing on Instagram's trademark. Facebook too maintains the stance that Littergram is a photo sharing app that operates in a similar way to the one whose name it touches upon. It hopes that an agreement can be reached before the case has escalated to the court.

If you want to have a look yourself or support the cause, Littergram is still up on Google Play and the App Store. Lucas' plea can be seen in the BBC source link below.

Download: Android | iOS

source: Littergram , BBC

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Luis D. has a multitude of news, features and review articles written for PhoneArena. He adeptly demystifies complex technology topics, such as the development of advanced materials for bendable device displays and the evolution of chipset manufacturing.