News Potatoes
PespiCo backs down in potato patent case
An Indian court has rejected PepsiCo's appeal against the revocation of a patent on a potato variety owned by the company. The American snack and beverage giant, known for its Lay's chips, has been at odds for years about the intellectual protection of plant varieties.
PepsiCo registered the FC2016 variety in 5 and thus claims to have exclusive rights to this variety. The variety has a higher dry matter content, which makes the potatoes suitable for processing into crisps, among other things. To be clear: FC5 (or FL2027 as stated on the patent form) is a potato variety produced by conventional cultivation. PepsiCo supplies the FC5 seed potatoes to growers who then supply the potatoes to the group at a fixed price. In 2019, PepsiCo filed a lawsuit against several Indian farmers alleging that they infringed that patent right by not growing the potatoes for PepsiCo. In addition, the chips manufacturer demanded compensation of 10 million rupees (approximately €110.000) per grower. However, PepsiCo did not pursue the case and after several months withdrew the charges.
No patent possible
In 2021, the Indian Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority (PPVFR) declared the patent granted on the FC5 variety null and void. According to the PPVFR, there is no possibility at all in Indian law to grant a patent on a plant variety. PepsiCo has appealed. The New Delhi High Court ruled that the PPVFR rightly revoked the patent. PepsiCo - which opened the first potato chip factory in India in 1989 - is the second American company to fail to protect the intellectual property rights of source material. After a long legal battle over cotton, Monsanto (now part of Bayer) partially withdrew from the Indian market.
Jurphaas Lugtenburg
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