Jury awards juice seller’s heirs $9.6M for misappropriation of his name

The grandchildren of a storied southern California juice seller were awarded $9.6 million after a jury decided Monster Energy Company and The Coca-Cola Company wrongfully used his name in marketing its products.

The 17-member estate of Hubert Hansen was represented by Johnson & Johnson LLP. The award does not include statutory attorney fees and costs, which the plaintiffs' attorneys said they would seek.

The case was decided last Friday in San Diego County Superior Court before Judge Timothy B. Taylor. Hansen v. The Coca-Cola Company et al., 37-2016-00021046 (S.D. Sup. Ct. Filed June 22, 2016).

In a six-week trial featuring more than 50 witnesses, the jury found the two beverage giants misappropriated Hansen's name when they produced and marketed the "Hubert's Lemonade" beverage line.

Hansen founded Hansen's Fruit and Vegetable Juice Company, the predecessor to Hansen's Juices, which produced juice beverages for over 40 years in California.

Coca-Cola bought the company in June 2015.

"We are very gratified by the jury's verdict in this case," said Jordanna Thigpen of Johnson & Johnson LLP, who chaired the trial team. "It represents an affirmation of not only our clients' rights to Hubert Hansen's name and considerable legacy, but the right of people generally to shut down commercial misappropriation of their names and identities."

Taylor presided over a two-week bench trial on the issue of ownership of Hubert Hansen's right of publicity prior to the jury trial, a matter also decided for the estate.

-- Carter Stoddard