Yoko Ono Makes John Lemon Drink Change Its Name

Joel Ryan/Invision/AP

Yoko Ono Makes John Lemon Drink Change Its Name

Joel Ryan/Invision/AP

Back in 2012, a Polish beverage company started the John Lemon line of lemonades. The drinks have started to gain popularity in Europe, and now Yoko Ono has threatened legal action and forced them to change the product’s name, according to Reuters. She says that the name infringes on the trademark of her late husband John Lennon. Lawyers sent warnings to distributors sayings that they faced costs of up to “5,000 euros ($5,998) a day and 500 euros for every bottle sold if they infringed the trademark.”

Lawyers for the beverage company say that they registered an EU trademark for John Lemon two years before one for Lennon himself was registered. However, Lennon’s likeness was used in association with the drink, including one Facebook page that featured an image of the Beatle and some marketing material that included the phrase “let it be” and a drawing resembling Lennon’s famous pair of round glasses.

The drink will henceforth be known as On Lemon.

more from News