A David and Goliath battle of technological proportions has begun as a Wrotham technician is pleading to the boss of Facebook to stop Instagram taking legal action against his anti-litter brand, Littergram.

Lawyers of the social network app Instagram have claimed that Danny Lucas’ litter app, which shares pictures and locations of litter in an attempt to clear up Kent, infringes on its trademark and has given him till today (April 28) to change the name before further action is taken.

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Instagram may take legal action against the anti-litter app, Littergram

The 48-year-old owner from Higham Lane, Tonbridge, launched the app in March 2015 as a way of reversing the stigma of littering and educating kids at the same time.

The app doesn’t cost a penny to users or councils.

He is hoping that Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg will intervene and allow his tech venture to continue.

Speaking to News Shopper Danny Lucas said: “I wanted to make the idea of being against litter cool because young people in particular think it’s more cool to drop it rather than pick it up.

“I thought by making it trendy it could also be educational.”

“We had no idea ‘gram’ was a problem - Littergram, is completely for a good cause and I hope common sense prevails and the message gets the right result.”

The practical idea of the zany app is to get people sharing information about where litter has been dumped so councils like Tonbridge and Malling, which has embraced Mr Lucas’ platform, are better able to organise and distribute resources.

The social network giant Facebook, which bought Instagram for $1bn (£629m) in 2012, might force legal action against the little anti-litter app after Mr Lucas received a letter on April 14 explaining he had two weeks to change the name.

The hugely popular Instagram allows users to change the effect of pictures with its unique filters before uploading them to a personal page to be shared with other users. 

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Facebook bought Instagram for £629m in 2012

Mr Lucas is now worried that after all the groundwork that’s been put into the app, any legal blow could ruin its momentum and taint its reputation.

Littergram was borne by Mr Lucas’ pet hate for litter.

He initially vented his frustrations by sending postcards of certain rubbish spots to council leaders and executives and realised that something more was needed.

“It’s fantastic that we’re getting so much support,” said Mr Lucas, “We are hopeful Facebook will get behind Littergram.”

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