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Johnson & Johnson sues American Red Cross
The world's largest for-profit healthcare products conglomerate, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), is suing the American Red Cross (ARC) over its use of the life-saving emblem - the red cross on a white background.
On 8 August J&J filed a civil complaint in the US District Court in New York charging the ARC with infringing its trademark for commercial use of the red-cross-on-white-background by licensing it to for-profit companies to produce items such as baby mitts, nail clippers, combs, toothbrushes and humidifiers, which directly compete with J&J's own products.
The trademark issue is murky and cloaked in legal complexities dating back over a century, but ARC President Mark W. Everson immediately fired back, calling the suit “obscene” and voicing the hope that the courts and Congress would not allow J&J “to bully” his organization.
“We are not asking the American Red Cross to stop using the Red Cross symbol for its legitimate purposes,” said J&J spokesman Jeff Leebaw. “We are asking that it stop licensing the symbol to for-profit companies in violation of our exclusive rights in the commercial arena.”
Read the full article: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=73919
