Recently, American multinational corporation PepsiCo sued 11 Gujarati farmers for ‘infringing its Intellectual Property Right by growing the potato variety, FL 2027, which is used in its Lay’s chips.
Background
The company had applied for the registration of two hybrid potato varieties FL 1867 and FL 2027 in February 2011. These varieties were registered under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act (PPVFRA) in February 2016 for a period of 15 years. This entitled PepsiCo an exclusive right over the registered variety.
