PepsiCo has announced that it will withdraw lawsuits against four Indian farmers it accused of patent infringement. "After discussions with the government, the company has agreed to withdraw the cases against the farmers," Reuters quoted a company spokesperson.
Leading farmers unions and rights advocacy groups have demanded that the PepsiCo immediately withdraw all legal suits it has slapped on many potato farmers in different districts of Gujarat. The Indian subsidiary of the US multinational company, PepsiCo India Holdings (PIH) Pvt Ltd, has filed cases of IPR infringement through 2018-19 against farmers for allegedly using potato variety FL 2027/FCS without permission.
ALSO READ: PepsiCo offers out-of-court settlement to potato farmers in Gujarat
At a press conference in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, Kapil Shah of Vadodara-based organisation Jatan demanded that the Central and state governments step in to protect farmers' rights as enshrined in the laws of the country, particularly the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001.
Pepsi uses this variety of potatoes in its popular brand Lays. The company has said that the registration of a potato variety denominated as FL-2027, also known by the trade name of FC-5, in India's Plant Varieties Registry in February 2016, entitles it to an exclusive right over the registered variety. It has also said that farmers are not authorised to grow this variety.
-Inputs from Nandini Oza
