<p>This comment offers a critical contribution to the debate on the protection of plant varieties in developing countries, with consideration of the Brazilian framework. To this extent, it analyzes the interaction between the plant variety protection model and patent protection in the international system, which entails – for each country – the possibility to opt between one of them or to design an overlapping combination of both. The Brazilian framework is then described. Further, the comment pays special attention to the Brazilian decision in Monsanto’s lawsuit by the Superior Court of Justice. This case shows that, although the overlap in Brazil was not properly designed, since it is forbidden by the Brazilian Plant Variety Protection Law, an inconsistency with the Brazilian Patent Law and the absence of proper rules undermines some benefits brought by the Brazilian Plant Variety Protection Law, particularly related to farmers’ rights. The comment concludes that, although the literature on intellectual property strongly reinforces the benefits of the 1978 UPOV Convention system for developing countries, the Brazilian experience partially contradicts this assumption.</p>