Facebook '˜taking legal action' against Northampton-developed app due to similarity to Instagram

Danny Lucas has made a YouTube plea to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg asking him not to 'kill' his project

Social media giant Facebook, which owns the picture sharing site Instagram, has reportedly taken legal action against the owner of a free app developed by a Northampton company because it includes the word '˜gram'.

LitterGram, which allows people to report incidents of fly-tipping, was launched last year by businessman Danny Lucas.

The app was developed by Northampton company All Things Code and is already being used by councils to provide a ‘litter map’ of different locations in the UK.

However, Mr Lucas has received a letter from Facebook, owner of Instagram, instructing him to change the app’s name due the use of “gram”.

He has responded with a personal plea to Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg, asking for him to stop the lawyers and work together to support LitterGram.

In the video posted on YouTube, Mr Lucas states: “My understanding is that Mark fights and cares for causes such as ours, which is why I have been so surprised and disappointed by his legal team’s action.

“I created LitterGram on the back of a posted telegram that I used to notify the authorities of litter in their area.

“When my approach proved effective I turned the concept into an app for a wider audience to get on board. This is not a financially driven business but a free way for everybody to tackle an ever growing problem.

“We are in no way a threat to a huge organisation such as Facebook.”