Mr. Leebaw added that the company had contributed more than $5 million to the American Red Cross in the last three years.

Image A first-aid kit sold on Target.com. Johnson & Johnson is challenging such sales.

John T. Crisan, general counsel for Johnson & Johnson’s consumer products division, said in an interview last night that the company had met with the American Red Cross to try to resolve the dispute.

Mr. Crisan said it was not clear how far the American Red Cross wanted to go in licensing the symbol for commercial purposes, noting that the red cross was a trademark of Johnson & Johnson before the American Red Cross was officially chartered. Mr. Crisan said that some of the items being sold under licensing agreements by the American Red Cross seemed to compete directly with products sold by J.& J.

Mr. Everson said that the items the American Red Cross was licensing for retail sale include emergency preparedness kits and grooming kits. The nonprofit organizations get part of the revenue from sales of those products, amounting to what he estimated was less than $10 million a year.

“It’s consistent with our mission,” he said. “People will buy disaster kits, sometimes on an impulse basis. That American Red Cross image on there gives them the confidence that there are the right things in the kit. We think they’re all done with that preparedness theme.”

The lawsuit filed yesterday says that Johnson & Johnson has used the red cross symbol since 1887 on a wide range of products, including wound care products and first-aid kits, which include gloves, wipes, bandages and cream.

The company entered into an agreement with the American Red Cross in 1895. The agreement acknowledged Johnson & Johnson’s exclusive right to the red cross as a “trademark for chemical, surgical and pharmaceutical goods of every description,” according to the lawsuit