American Red Cross seeks dismissal of J&J trademark suit

Sept 20 (Reuters) - The American Red Cross on Thursday requested a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) accusing the relief group of improperly using the red cross emblem.

The organisation filed its own counterclaim accusing the pharmaceutical company of improper use of the emblem, maintaining that the U.S. Congress had given the non-profit explicit right to use the emblem for the purpose of trade.

In August, Johnson & Johnson had sued the group for the sale of commercially available products carrying the red cross symbol. Johnson & Johnson claimed it had owned the trademark for more than 100 years. (Reporting by Anup Roy in Bangalore)