PepsiCo sued four farmers in Gujarat for copyright infringement. According to PepsiCo, the farmers they are suing are growing potatoes which PepsiCo exclusively uses for making Lay’s products.
The lawsuit was filed by the Indian subsidiary of PepsiCo. The case is going to be heard by a district court in the State on the 26th of April. However, farmer unions are fighting against this lawsuit.
Accusing PepsiCo India of intimidating farmers, the farmers’ lobbies, on the 25th of April, reached out to the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ministry to put out a public statement about upholding the rights of farmers under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001. The association asked the welfare ministry to convince PepsiCo India Holdings to withdraw the cases.
“We took judicial recourse against people who were illegally dealing in our registered variety. This was done to protect our rights and safeguard the larger interest of farmers that are engaged with us and who are using and benefitting from seeds of our registered variety,” said PepsiCo in its statement while filing the litigation.
The lawsuits were filed by PepsiCo against Fulchand Kachchhawa and Suresh Kachchhawa of Malgadh village in Deesa taluka of Banaskantha, on the 11th of April, for illegally growing and selling the potato variety FL-2027. One of the primary reasons for this lawsuit being filed is, PepsiCo is a registered breeder of these potatoes.
Based on the petition by PepsiCo, the Deesa Civil Court appointed a senior official as the Commissioner of the Court. The Commissioner was directed to look into the matter by visiting the farmers at their village, post which, a report would be filed.
However, PepsiCo wasn’t happy with the Deesa Court’s order and in retaliation, it moved the Gujarat High Court. The High Court asked the commissioner to visit the Tirupati Balaji Cold Storage in Deesa and Harsol in Sabarkantha. PepsiCo also asked the Court to take an inventory of the infringing products.
A Court in Ahmadabad is all set to hear the case on the 26th of April.
Stay tuned for more updates.
