J.C. Mayfield, an American businessman, bought one third of the rights to the Pemberton Medicine Company (founded by John Pemberton) in 1888. Mayfield was under the mistaken impression that he had acquired the rights to Coca-Cola, but in fact Pemberton had already sold a stake to the formula to two other individuals, Margaret Dozier and Woolfolk Walker . Moreover, Pemberton sold the rights to manufacture Coca-Cola a second time that year, to Asa Candler.

Mayfield nevertheless reincorporated the Pemberton Medicine Company in 1894, as the Wine Coca Company , and attempted to continue selling Coca-Cola (under the name of Pemberton's French Wine Coca, but with the formula modified to resemble Coke).

His ex-wife, under the pseudoname Diva Brown also attempted to sell a Coca-Cola imitation, called My-Cola . She claimed her beverage used Pemberton's original formula, although Mayfield disputed it.