I think this article has an explanation.

[EDIT] Related newspaper article here.

Dear Ricardo,

I presented the first article to my History of Graphic Design course last fall but find it does not answer the question of who owns this symbol.

From conversation with Harry Allen, the fact that the American Red Cross licenses the symbol to corporations who make commercial profit from it is not answered by the organization’s lawyers stance that they are doing no wrong. Is it right for relief agencies to compete with for-profit industry?

I find this all a very sticky wicket, however, because of the good the American Red Cross does. Living in Katrina-land, and, counting down to a new hurricane season, I am reminded that the Red Cross is the ONLY American agency who, time and again, is called upon and does respond for disaster relief.

So, my question is, who is the grabby one? J&J for registering a universal symbol for commercial profit in the first place or the American Red Cross for overstepping past bounds?

It is my personal experience that in business, as with life, best practices need always to be evaluated periodically. Which is why I find this issue so interestin