More of Johnson & Johnson’s Case Against the American Red Cross is Thrown Out
Last year, J&J sued the American Red Cross, alleging that the humanitarian organization unlawfully licensed its famous logo to companies that directly compete with J&J (we blogged about it here). Last week, a federal judge threw out the majority of Johnson & Johnson’s case.
A few background facts on the case:
-Johnson & Johnson and Red Cross cohabitated with similar logos for over 100 years.
-Johnson & Johnson earns $53 billion in annual revenues.
-The products in question earned Red Cross $2 million annually.
-The money went to a non-profit to help with disaster relief.
That should be more than enough information to cause the average company to NOT bring about a lawsuit. Nevertheless, J&J sued and brought about what The Independent last year accurately labeled a “public relations disaster.”
Johnson & Johnson took their first shot of reality last November, when a judge threw out a significant part of the charges, specifically the accusation that Red Cross went back on its promise “not to engage in the sale of first aid, health, safety and emergency preparedness products.”
That didn’t stop the company, however, as J&J continued with their lawsuit. A ruling by the same federal judge, made public Thursday, gave J&J another dose of reality. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff threw out the majority of the company’s remaining arguments.
Though a few issues still remain unresolved, such as an allegation that the Red Cross interfered with two rivals of J&J, the Red Cross clearly considers this a win.
“We have been vindicated by the court on the major issues,” said Mary S. Eclano, the Red Cross acting chief executive. “We want them to get rid of this case. It’s been merit less from the very beginning.”
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May 22nd, 2008 at 7:51 am
One day the world will see J&J for who they really are, nothing more than a company who put’s profit over people in every sense of the term. J&J has violated every law, anti-trust, racketeering etc you name it in keeping FlossRings off the market for over a decade including threatening my life if I ever pursued justice against them. I never could have put into words the depth of their depravity until J&J sued the Red Cross.
Sooner or later the world will learn that J&J is directly responsible for depriving the public of an oral care device clinically proven to be on par with the Toothbrush and that will undermine all of their claims of putting the public first even on the simplest of matters.
Sincerely,
Sean Dix
http://www.FlossRings.com