By Mayank Bhardwaj and Sumit Khanna
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – An Indian court has dismissed PepsiCo Inc’s appeal against an order revoking a patent for a variety of potato grown exclusively for the New York-based company’s popular Lay’s crisps.
The Plant Variety Protection and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPVFR) in 2021 revoked intellectual property protection granted to PepsiCo’s FC5 potato variety, saying Indian rules do not allow a patent on potato varieties. seeds.
The authority removed PepsiCo’s patent coverage after Kavitha Kuruganti, a farmers’ rights activist, argued that the company could not claim a patent on a variety of seeds.
PepsiCo filed a petition in the Delhi High Court against the revocation of patent coverage.
In his order dated July 5, Delhi High Court Judge Navin Chawla dismissed PepsiCo’s appeal against the authority’s decision.
“We are aware of the order…and are reviewing it,” a PepsiCo India spokesperson said in a statement.
The American snack and drink maker, which set up its first crisp factory in India in 1989, supplies the FC5 seed variety to a group of farmers who, in turn, sell their produce to the company at a price fixed.
PepsiCo claimed to have exclusively developed the FC5 variety and registered the trait in 2016. The FC5 variety has a lower moisture content required to make snacks such as potato chips.
In a statement, Kuruganti said “It is good that Judge Navin Chawla’s judgment has upheld the dismissal order.”
In 2019, PepsiCo sued some Indian farmers for growing the FC5 potato variety, accusing the growers of infringing its patent. The company also claimed more than 10 million rupees ($121,050) each for alleged patent infringement.
Within months, PepsiCo withdrew the lawsuits against the farmers.
In its order, the Delhi High Court did not uphold the charges of violation of public interest by PepsiCo.
PepsiCo is the second major US company to face patent infringement issues in India.
After a long-running dispute over intellectual property, seed maker Monsanto, now owned by German drugmaker Bayer AG, pulled out of some businesses in India.
($1 = 82.61 rupees)
(Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj and Sumit Khanna; Editing by Kim Coghill)