RED CROSS SUED OVER USE OF "RED CROSS" Remember when the Red Cross refused to recognize Israel's Magen David Adom?

MDA had long been denied full membership in the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) because it uses the Red Star of David (the Magen David) as its emblem, and under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, member national societies of the ICRC are required to accept the "Ten Conditions for Recognition" including that they, "Use the name and emblem of the Red Cross or Red Crescent in conformity with the Geneva Conventions." The ICRC had consistently maintained that this condition disqualifies MDA from being recognized as a national society.

Now the Red Cross is having some problems with its own symbol. Seth's Blog writes:

It turns out that in the 1800s, Johnson & Johnson had used the Red Cross symbol for more than a decade before the US non-profit started using it. It also turns out that they generously gave the organization the right, for free, to use the symbol for its work, forever, as long as they didn't use it for reasons not directly related to their mission.

Mission? The Red Cross recently licensed their logo to a brand of surgical gloves, for example. And first aid kits that a licensee sells at Target.

So much for the Red Cross' high high standards.

Technorati Tag: The Red Cross.