The PepsiCo Dispute: A Case of David Versus Goliath?

This is a case study of the PepsiCo Dispute. In April 2019, PepsiCo India Holdings (PIH), a US-based transnational corporation, sued local farmers from Gujarat, India, in the Commercial Court of the City Civil Court, Ahmedabad, and in other districts of Gujarat, filing suits for infringement of its registered potato variety FC 5, (the commercial name for the potato plant variety FL 2027) which is used in Lays chips. PIH contended that this variety of potatoes is a hybrid of FL 1867 and Wischip varieties and the company is the registered breeder of the variety until 2031. More specifically, PIH alleged that nine Guajarati farmers were growing and selling a variety of potato exclusively registered by the company under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act (PPV&FRA), 2001, thereby violating PIH’s exclusive intellectual property rights to that potato.