Hubert Hansen Intellectual Property Trust v. The Coca-Cola Company et al.

Publicity rights

San Diego County

Superior Court Judge Timothy Taylor

$9.596 million

Neville Johnson

Plaintiffs' Lawyers: Johnson & Johnson LLP, Neville L. Johnson, Douglas L. Johnson, Jordanna G. Thigpen, Jordan Gonzales; The Hamideh Firm PC, Bassil Hamideh

Defense Lawyers: Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP, Marc P. Miles, Kristy A. Schlesinger, Janet L. Hickson, Gabriel S. Spooner; Knobbe Martens, Steven J. Nataupsky, Lynda J. Zadra-Symes, Jacob R. Rosenbaum

A San Diego County jury awarded nearly $9.6 million to the heirs of Hubert Hansen, the founder of Hansen's beverages who died in 1951, after concluding Coca-Cola Company and Monster Energy Company misappropriated the famed juice maker's right of publicity without consent.

Jordanna G. Thigpen, now with Thigpen Legal, formerly with Johnson & Johnson, served as lead counsel for plaintiffs at trial. This team secured a verdict, which included an additional $7.4 million in legal fees and costs, was one of the largest verdicts in a right of publicity case in U.S. history, plaintiffs attorneys said. But it didn't come easy.

"Very early on the case, the court could see that there were a lot of discovery games being played," said Douglas L. Johnson. "And we were having a very difficult time getting discovery."

Douglas Johnson

As a result, San Diego County Superior Court Judge Timothy Taylor appointed a discovery referee who began issuing what plaintiffs described as "heavy duty sanctions" on the defendants, including attorney fees of about $150,000, which he told plaintiffs was 10 times more than he'd ever ordered anyone to pay.

The plaintiff's lawyers said it was defense counsels' strategy to make the case as difficult as possible, adding that the financial sanctions did not have their desired effect.

"These are the two largest, fiercely defended companies in the world, and the Hansen family was an underdog," said Bassil Hamideh of The Hamideh Law Firm PC.

"They would not give us a scintilla of information," Hamideh added. "We had to fight for everything tooth and nail. We were lucky to get it in front of a jury and then the jury discovered the truth."

In one instance, Coca-Cola and Monster's defense counsel, a team of nearly a dozen attorneys, deposed every single Hansen family member, even though many of them didn't have much, if any, pertinent information.

"We had to make motion after motion to compel," said Neville L. Johnson. "It was highly extraordinary in that regard."

Plaintiffs alleged the sale of Hansen's drink business to Coca-Cola and Monster Beverage, which became final in 2015, did not include copyrights and trademarks that would have allowed Coca-Cola to use Hansen's name and story for advertising purposes.

Hansen's children and grandchildren sued on grounds that Coca-Cola had violated California's right of publicity laws when it rolled out a product called "Hubert's Lemonade" shortly after the acquisition. Hubert Hansen Intellectual Property Trust v. The Coca-Cola Company et al., 37-2016-00021046 (San Diego County Sup. Ct, filed June 6, 2016).

The lemonade bottles had a passage on the label describing Hansen having sold juice after the Great Depression and identified Hansen as the founder of the drink, which plaintiffs successfully argued at trial he was not.

Defense counsel did not respond to request for comment.

The verdict was appealed last June in the 4th District Court of Appeal. The case has been fully briefed and is awaiting oral argument.

-- Tyler Pialet