Lawsuit Over Red Cross

Aug. 10, 2007 — -- A trademark lawsuit against the American Red Cross aims to limit its use of the very symbol that embodies the charity's name.

Health-product maker Johnson & Johnson says it has the exclusive rights to use the red cross emblem on commercial products and the Red Cross does not have the right to use the same symbol on products it sells for profit.

The two organizations have relied on this agreement to share the emblem for more than 100 years.

The Red Cross formed in 1881, which is when it started using the red cross symbol, Red Cross spokeswoman Devorah Goldburg told ABC News. Johnson & Johnson began using the symbol in 1887, before the Red Cross got its congressional charter in 1900.

A statement released by Johnson & Johnson acknowledges that the two organizations have had "separate and distinct rights" to use the same symbol for more than 100 years, with the Red Cross only using the emblem in connection with nonprofit relief efforts.

But in 2004, the Red Cross began licensing the trademark to be used on products — such as hand sanitizer, emergency preparedness kits and baby mitts — sold for commercial gain. The products are sold in retail stores like Target and Wal-Mart, Goldburg said, and the proceeds from these sales go toward Red Cross' disaster-relief efforts.

In the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New York, Johnson & Johnson requests that the Red Cross stop using the emblem on commercial products and turn over all such products to Johnson & Johnson for destruction. The suit also seeks undisclosed punitive damages in addition to legal fees.

"For a multibillion-dollar drug company to claim that the Red Cross violated a criminal statute … simply so that J& J can make more money, is obscene," said Mark Everson, the Red Cross president.

The lawsuit is the result of a breakdown of months of negotiations between the two organizations. Johnson & Johnson said the company recently offered to bring a third party to mediate, but the Red Cross declined.