JNJ v. American Red Cross
Aug. 9th, 2007 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhuSo based on the article in today's Times, I don't see what choice Johnson and Johnson had but to sue the Red Cross:
* JNJ trademarked the symbol in 1887, before the Red Cross was chartered
* The two organizations signed an agreement in 1895, acknowledging that JNJ used the trademark for medical supplies and permitting the ARC to use the symbol in association with their humanitarian relief efforts
* The ARC recently started selling the rights to use their name and symbol on third-party medical supplies (which are commercial products sold for profit and not related to any relief effort).
So it certainly seems that the ARC violated the 1895 agreement, and if JNJ didn't sue then they'd lose all rights to the trademark.
* JNJ trademarked the symbol in 1887, before the Red Cross was chartered
* The two organizations signed an agreement in 1895, acknowledging that JNJ used the trademark for medical supplies and permitting the ARC to use the symbol in association with their humanitarian relief efforts
* The ARC recently started selling the rights to use their name and symbol on third-party medical supplies (which are commercial products sold for profit and not related to any relief effort).
So it certainly seems that the ARC violated the 1895 agreement, and if JNJ didn't sue then they'd lose all rights to the trademark.