UK anti-litter app LitterGram allowed to keep its name by Facebook

posted by Damian M. / Nov 09, 2016, 9:50 AM

UK anti-litter app LitterGram allowed to keep its name by Facebook

For those not familiar with the subject, LitterGram is an app that has a simple, yet valiant, purpose. It's meant to be used in the UK for users to snap pictures of litter on the street and send them directly to their respective UK councils, so they can send clean up teams.

However, Facebook's lawyers saw something else when they came across LitterGram. Namely, trademark infringement to the Instagram name. This led the attorneys to writing an angry letter to the LitterGram team, which in turn resulted in a personal video plea by the app creators, aimed at Mark Zuckerberg, so they can keep their name.

In the end of it all, LitterGram and Facebook agreed that the UK team will not try to trademark the name, but they never got officially off the hook. In fact, in September the LitterGram team received a new letter by Instagram's owners, asking for their name change. And after some correspondence between the two companies, the British developers received a final letter, in which Facebook's lawyers stated that they “consider this matter closed at this time”.

“Facebook's lawyers have now dropped their case against us, allowing us to keep our name and wishing us continued success,” says Danny Lucas, LitterGram's creator.

Facebook's attorneys made sure to note that they reserve all rights to take action should circumstances change, though. So, LitterGram might not be safe forever, but at least for the time being the British litter vigilantes are clean from trademark infringement cases.

With the UK being ranked as the 3rd most littered nation globally, such disputes should be the team's last concern and we wish them a smoother road ahead. If you happen to be in the UK and want to help LitterGram in its efforts, you can download the app from Google Play or the App Store.

Download: Android | iOS

source: LitterGram via BBC

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1 Comment

1. DaveElliott

Posts: 148; Member since: Sep 20, 2012

LitterGram vs. Instagram? Only Facebook owners could get confused by any similarities caused by the last four letters. A video plea? They should have made a video Zuckergram telling Mark to go F himself and then shared it wherever possible.