PepsiCo's Patent On FC5 Potato Variety Grown For Lay's Chips Revoked: Report
NDTV
The patent for a potato variety grown exclusively for PepsiCo Inc's popular Lay's potato chips is revoked, according to an order issued by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority
India has revoked a patent for a potato variety grown exclusively for PepsiCo Inc's popular Lay's potato chips, according to an order issued on Friday by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights (PPVFR) Authority
In 2019, PepsiCo sued some Indian farmers based in the western state of Gujarat for cultivating the FC5 potato variety, which has a lower moisture content required to make snacks such as potato chips.
Withdrawing the lawsuits the same year, the New York-based company said it wanted to settle the issue amicably.
Later, Kavitha Kuruganti, a farmers' rights activist, petitioned the PPVFR Authority for revocation of intellectual protection granted to PepsiCo's FC5 potato variety, saying that government's rules do not allow a patent on seed varieties.
