Dispute Over Red Cross Symbol Settled
The cross symbol will continue to be used by a health-products company and a charity under a settlement reached yesterday.
Johnson & Johnson had sued the American Red Cross last August, claiming the charity infringed its trademark by licensing the cross for commercial purposes. The Red Cross countersued. The litigants agreed to drop their claims yesterday, according to the press release. The settlement was reached a month after a federal judge dismissed much of J&J’s trademark claims, the New York Times reports.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff of Manhattan had ruled a congressional charter gave the Red Cross the right to use the symbol for business purposes.
“The parties have concluded that it is more productive to accept the rulings by Judge Jed S. Rakoff, set the remaining disputes aside, and direct attention instead to their respective missions,” according to the press release.
