Johnson & Johnson is suing the American Red Cross for using – of all things, the red-cross logo.
J&J has used the red-cross symbol since 1887, before the Red Cross was chartered. So they are right.
Though the relief organization denies it refused to negotiate with J&J because it held the communications high ground, it certainly played its hand effectively, raising the question of whether J&J should have just let the matter slide.
Why did J&J go after the Red Cross?
The company had to enforce its trademark or lose it forever.
Trademark infringement left unchallenged, even when a humanitarian organization is involved, can mean losing the trademark.
After months of talks with the Red Cross went nowhere, J&J not only offered mediation, but also said it would use a mediator recommended by the group. A Red Cross spokeswoman said she didn’t know why the group declined that offer.
The Red Cross began licensing the cross in 2004 to other manufacturers who also put it on first-aid kits, including a Target private-label version, and on such things as cool-mist humidifiers of seemingly little value in a disaster.
J&J has used the symbol since 1887, before the Red Cross was chartered. Clara Barton signed an 1895 agreement recognizing J&J’s exclusive rights to it for “chemical, surgical and pharmaceutical goods of every description.”
A 1905 law prohibits anyone other than the American Red Cross from using the symbol, exempting J&J, which already used it.