Wounds Heal in Red Cross Dispute

After coming to its public relations senses, medical firm Johnson & Johnson has decided it wouldn’t be wise to proceed with a lawsuit against the Red Cross charity over a trademark agreement made in 1895. The initial case was brought by the firm after the Red Cross began to sell safety kits to fundraise for its many disaster-relief campaigns.

The BBC:

Medical firm Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and the American Red Cross have agreed to end their legal dispute over the charity’s use of the red cross symbol.

The deal avoids a trial and upholds the right of the American Red Cross to use the emblem for commercial purposes.

J&J had alleged that an agreement with the charity’s founder in 1895 gave it the exclusive use of the symbol as a trademark for drug products.

The charity had called the lawsuit “obscene”.

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urbanprarie.net

The legal dispute was over the Red Cross’ use of a red cross in commercial dealings; Johnson & Johnson believed itself to be the exclusive owner of a logo with two red lines intersecting.