An Indian court dismissed PepsiCo Inc.’s appeal against a decision to revoke a patent on a potato variety bred specifically for the well-known Lay’s potato chips produced by the New York-based business.
According to Reuters, the FC5 potato variety owned by PepsiCo had intellectual property rights that were canceled in 2021 by the Protection of Plant Types and Farmers’ Rights Authority on the grounds that India’s laws do not permit a patent on seed types.
After a farmers’ rights activist, Kavitha Kuruganti contended that PepsiCo cannot claim a patent over a seed variety, the authority removed PepsiCo’s patent cover.
The Delhi High Court received a petition from PepsiCo protesting the patent cover’s cancellation.
Judge Navin Chawla of the Delhi High Court denied PepsiCo’s appeal in a ruling dated July 5.
The American snack and beverage manufacturer provides the FC5 seed variety to a group of farmers who then sell their produce to the business at a defined price. The company established its first potato chip facility in India in 1989.
The FC5 variety was exclusively created by PepsiCo, and the trait was registered in 2016. The FC5 cultivar has less moisture than is necessary to produce snacks like potato chips.
Kuruganti stated in a statement that “it is good that the judgement of Justice Navin Chawla upheld the revocation order…”
The FC5 potato type was grown by some Indian farmers, according to a 2019 lawsuit filed by PepsiCo, which claimed the producers had violated its patent. Additionally, the business requested more than 10 million rupees ($121,050) per alleged patent infringement.
PepsiCo dropped its cases against farmers within a few months.
In its ruling, the Delhi High Court rejected claims that PepsiCo had violated any public interest.
PepsiCo is the second large American company to experience problems with patent infringement in India.
The seed company Monsanto, which is now owned by the German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG, withdrew from various operations in India as a result of a protracted intellectual property dispute.
