“Monsanto is amoral, it will do anything for profits” Luiz Fernando Benincá, a soybean producer and litigant in the class action suit against Monsanto.
The court's nine justices unanimously ruled on Oct. 9 that farmers cannot save seeds for replanting if the seeds are harvested from Monsanto's patented Roundup Ready soybeans, which are genetically engineered to withstand direct application of the company's Roundup herbicide.
The Brazilian ruling aligns with similar decisions in the U.S. and Canada. Courts in all three countries determined that, as a product of genetic engineering, Roundup Ready soybeans are protected by domestic patent law.
In a public statement, Monsanto - which was acquired by Bayer in 2018 - said the decision will strengthen "agricultural innovation in Brazil."
How strict patenting of seeds affects innovation, however, is a matter of debate. And the lawsuits challenging Monsanto's aggressive pursuit of its patent rights raise a vexed legal issue: When intellectual property laws that protect companies conflict with the rights of farmers to plant their fields, who should win?
Comment: As resistance against the abusive practices of Bayer/Monsanto continues to grow, the corporation's choke-hold on Brazilian farmers may only be temporary: