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She threatened legal action alleging that it
infringed on the trademark of her late husband.
The company has now agreed to change its drink's name to "On
Lemon", after lawyers acting for Ono wrote to distributors
warning 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 acting for the beverage firm denied it had infringed the
late star's rights, but Ono's lawyers pointed to a Facebook post
from John Lemon Ireland, which featured an image of the iconic
singer.
Other marketing materials included the brand's logo next to the
words "let it be" and a pair of round glasses, both closely
associated with Lennon
John Lemon's lawyers also said that pointed out that their EU
trademark had been registered in 2014, two years earlier than
the John Lennon trademark was registered in 2016.
Karol Chamera, the founder of Mr Lemonade Alternative Drinks
which distributed the John Lemon beverage in the UK told the
East London Advertiser newspaper: "all of us involved with this
product are startups and we couldn’t take on someone who is
worth many, many millions."
(Writing by Mark Hanrahan in London Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
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