Anyone explain this?

[BlodwynPig]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-36148093

Why is that name not acceptable? The only thing in common is "gram".

And so what... how will Instagram suffer with this little (litter) tiddler swimming about in such shark infested shit?

[MojoJojo]

And so what... how will Instagram suffer with this little (litter) tiddler swimming about in such shark infested shit?

If they don't actively defend their trademark, they lose all rights to it.

[BlodwynPig]

If they don't actively defend their trademark, they lose all rights to it.

So they have the trademark for littergram too?

[great_badir]

I think the issue is that Littergram is an instant photo sharing app that works on exactly the same principle as Instagram.

Pretty sure they are well in their rights to take out a legal action, and it is one that makes sense as far as copyright law goes, but it's pathetic - to anyone with even a quarter of a brain it's quite obvious that Littergram isn't trying to step on Instagram's toes, and has a very specific purpose.

I would hope that a judge would laugh it out of court but, with the Stairway/Taurus thing now being taken seriously by at least one US judge, I fear that that won't be the case.

[BlodwynPig]

Its the wording in the article then. It only mentions "the name is unacceptable", not the "concept of the app, together with the name...etc etc".

Transparency in reporting would be very helpful.

Your sincerely,

Mr. Apple Jfone.

[Depressed Beyond Tables]

Doubt Instagram have a leg to stand on legally here. Interesting to see if big money have work around this tho. Great publicity.

[checkoutgirl]

This is like accusing Supersonic Man of being a rip off of Superman when they are obviously two completely different costumed alien superheroes in capes who can fly and lift heavy stuff.

[biggytitbo]

Telegram, Radiogram, Gorillagram - Instagram just reused existing terms themselves so its a bit rich.


Telegram was the first 'instant messaging', I don't see Morse suing, the absolute FUCKING CUNTS.

[MojoJojo]

Telegram, Radiogram, Gorillagram - Instagram just reused existing terms themselves so its a bit rich.

Littergram does't deliver litter to people. It takes instant photos - and the only reason "Littergram" makes any sense is because of Instagram already existing.

[mook]

best thing to happen to the app i would have thought, a fuck load of gratis publicity, i doubt i would have heard of it otherwise. if the worse comes to the worse & facebook gets its way, can't the littergram people just call the app , i dunno - bindodgers formally knows as littergram?anyway not fussed mate, off to fly tip a mattress in the cuckmere.

[Entropy Balsmalch]

If they don't actively defend their trademark, they lose all rights to it.

Indeed. Someone with a better memory than I will be able to recall the incredible occasion where one American firm used the lack of activity of their competition to hijack their characters.

Hang on! Yep. It's Duracell vs Energiser and the "Bunny".

And it was more complicated than that probably.

EDIT - yes. It was. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energizer_Bunny

But parody law is complicated in America.

[biggytitbo]

Littergram does't deliver litter to people. It takes instant photos - and the only reason "Littergram" makes any sense is because of Instagram already existing.

Instagram is just adapting an old preexisting word for sending a message though. It's a bit churlish to try and destroy someone else for doing the same thing. There's no genuine confusion between the two apps either is there?

[MojoJojo]

I think that yes, there is scope for thinking that littergram is related to instagram.

And again, littergram does not deliver litter. It delivers photos of litter, a subset of what instagram delivers. Last telegram in the UK sent 40 years ago this year.

Although if you want to start Baldygram, an app to share photos of baldness, I am behind that.

Not Cockgram though.

[biggytitbo]

Why would anyone believe littergram delivered litter? I don't understand what that means?


I do get that it's very slightly similar to what Instagram does, and millions of other apps aswell. I just don't think anybody would ever confuse them. And I don't think Instagram should now be allowed to own all names of apps that send photos with the suffix gram, as if they invented it.

[MojoJojo]

Why would anyone believe littergram delivered litter? I don't understand what that means?

Because that's what the suffix "gram" generally means. A Stripogram does not deliver a picture of stripper. Following the generic usage Littergram would deliver litter. The only reason delivering it makes sense as delivering a picture of litter is because of instagram.

(To be honest, the whole strip/kiss/gorilla-gram connection hadn't really occurred to me, since I think that pretty much died out as a thing in the 80s, but it a reasonable point to take. Personally I think the -gram as suffix meaning delivered was archaic and Instagram revived it, and they revived it as something relating particularly to photos)

[Zetetic]

The history seems a bit more all over the shop.

The use of '-gram' in this way apparently all derives from 'telegram', where it's an abbreviation of '-graphic message'.

I'm not sure that it clearly means 'delivery of' in 'stripogram' or 'kissogram' or 'gorrillagram'. At least originally, it meant 'delivery of a message by' in those sort of constructions (more similar to a deconstruction of 'telegram' to mean a message delivered over a great distance).

'Instagram' bears an interesting resemblance to 'pistolgram' (an instantaneous image, produced by a pistolgraph of course, from the late 19th century).

I'm not really going anywhere with this. I think MojoJojo's right that Instagram's brand is responsible for the much of the current sense of the suffix '-gram' in 'Littergram' (or at least how readily recognisable that sense is), but it still seems heavily rooted in generic vocabulary that's well within living memory.

[Blumf]

Are the Candy Crush guys still trying to hold onto the 'Saga' term?

Then there's the more recent flap on YouTube with The Fine Brothers 'React' trademark grab.



Moral: Marketing cunts equal shit.

[Dex Sawash]

I would sign up for shiftwork2's dogshitwindmillgram

[Mister Six]

'Instagram' bears an interesting resemblance to 'pistolgram' (an instantaneous image, produced by a pistolgraph of course, from the late 19th century).

I'm not really going anywhere with this. I think MojoJojo's right that Instagram's brand is responsible for the much of the current sense of the suffix '-gram' in 'Littergram' (or at least how readily recognisable that sense is), but it still seems heavily rooted in generic vocabulary that's well within living memory.

Aye but it's about context. This is an image-sharing social media app, which is an area in which the -gram suffix is undeniably linked to Instagram. Would they be calling it Littergram if Instagram hadn't come along first? Of course not.