The International Red Cross takes its global presence very seriously, including its logo – a red Greek cross.
Founded in 1863 in Geneva, the International Red Cross offers humanitarian assistance to those in need around the world.
Surprisingly, Google introduced Google Plus recently, with the plus symbol looking very much like the Red Cross symbol.
“Obviously, we object to this”, said Claus Festerklatz in Lausanne, Switzerland on behalf of the International Red Cross. “When a large organization such as Google attempts to use a symbol such as the Red Cross and downgrade it to a mathematical plus sign, that’s preposterous”, he added.
Google could have used any of these crosses as a Google Plus symbol but they made the mistake of using the Red Cross mark.
While similarities exist, we cannot say that Google is intentionally using the plus symbol in a manner that violates the Red Cross trademark. After all, Google is a for profit organization.
“We are disappointed”, said Bob Hui – a spokesperson for Google. “Seriously, the Red Cross guys need to stop bullying us. Google is not evil and we will fight this tooth and nail to prove that we had no intention to violate any rules. There are only so many ways to write the plus symbol!”, he added.
The lawsuit was filed in Geneva, Switzerland and it will most likely set a precedent regarding the use of the plus sign in any form, including the Swiss flag and even the printed keyboard key.
