On 9 August 2007, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) filed suit against the American Red Cross alleging trademark infringement. The suit sought to halt the placement of the Red Cross emblem on all first aid, safety and disaster preparedness products not specifically licensed by Johnson & Johnson. The suit also asked for the destruction of all currently existing non-J&J Red Cross emblem-bearing products of this type, and demanded the American Red Cross pay punitive damages and J&J's legal fees. J&J released a statement to the public on 8 August 2007, detailing its decision to file suit, claiming prior rights to the emblem. On the same date, the American Red Cross issued a press release of its own, stating some of the reasons behind its decision to license the Red Cross emblem to first aid and disaster preparedness product manufacturers. It issued a further press release two days later, disputing several of J&J's claims and asserting that "(t)he Red Cross has been selling first aid kits commercially in the United States since 1903." In a statement, the American Red Cross said it had worked since 2004 with several licensing partners to create first aid, preparedness and related products that bear the Red Cross emblem. The charity said that all money it received from the sale of these products to consumers was reinvested in its humanitarian programs and services. "For a multi-billion dollar drug company to claim that the Red Cross violated a criminal statute that was created to protect the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross—simply so that J&J can make more money—is obscene," said Mark Everson, the chief executive of the charity. Johnson & Johnson responded, stating that the American Red Cross's commercial ventures were outside the scope of historically well-agreed usage, and were in direct violation of federal statutes. The federal court rejected Johnson & Johnson's position and ruled for the American Red Cross, holding that federal law authorizes the American Red Cross to use the Red Cross emblem in the sale of mission-related items like first aid and disaster preparedness kits and to license other firms to use its name and emblem to sell such products. The court noted in particular that the American Red Cross had been doing so for over a century, and that Johnson & Johnson had once itself sought to be a licensee of the American Red Cross. After the court rejected the substance of Johnson & Johnson's complaint, the parties ultimately settled their differences, and the American Red Cross remains free to use its emblem commercially.