Estate of Denial:  “Pepsico has no claim to “original, historically significant documents” about the invention of its signature soft drink, two brothers claim in Federal Court, claiming their father deserves the credit.

“By this action, the heirs seek to eliminate any doubt that original, historically significant documents belonging to their deceased father, Richard John Ritchie (‘Ritchie’), who is historically acknowledged as the person who developed the original, commercially successful formula for Pepsi-Cola on or about 1931 (the ‘Ritchie Invention’), are their personal property, as his lawful heirs, which they may freely share with historians, collectors, journalists, and television and film producers, and ultimately, members of the interested public, to tell their father’s extraordinary life story without interference or the threat of litigation from Mr. Ritchie’s former employer, Pepsi,” the complaint begins.”