Legal battle brewing over Yogi name
Golden Temple, a tea and cereal manufacturer founded by a Sikh community in 1960s, has found itself in a legal battle over the use of the word "Yogi", which stems from the Sikh spiritual leader Yogi Bhajan. After selling its cereal business to Hearthside Food Solutions, Golden Temple has decided to focus exclusively on Yogi Tea brand, which has 50 employees in Oregon and about 100 employees in Europe. However, the widow of Yogi Bhajan is suing Golden Temple over the use of Yogi trademark. The widow considers that as a successor to her husbands estate, she controls the trademarks used by or connected with her husband, while Golden Temple says that it owns the rights to Yogi trademarks. If she prevails, she plans to license the brand to another tea manufacturer.