Civil court proceedings related to infringe meant of trademark rights are not unusual, but criminal proceedings related to such rights are rather extraordinary. In this case the  Oslo Police District brought a criminal action towards a dental clinic called AAAA Tøyen Tannlegevakt AS after the dental clinic had registered and used a trademark that contained a red cross that was similar to the The Red Cross' symbol. The clinic had used a red cross on a dark background. On each arm of the cross were placed the letter  A  and in the middle of the cross was a picture of a tooth.

In Norway The Red Cross symbol is protected  against unlawful use both by the Geneva Convention and the Norwegian Trademark Act. Further to this the Norwegian General Civil Penal Code article 328 bans use of a symbol or mark which is similar with a mark or symbol that is owned by an international organization to which Norway is a member.

In the earlier decision from the Oslo District Court, the court decided that the actual device objectively was confusingly similar to the Red Cross symbol, but found AAAA Tøyen Tannlegevakt AS not guilty because the symbol was not used with intent.   Borgarting Court of Appeal also found the dental clinic not guilty, but based their decision on the fact that the symbol used by the clinic was not sufficiently similar to the Red Cross symbol.

The decision from the court of appeal has been appealed to the Norwegian Supreme Court.