The court fees for a patent or trademark case of “citizen-suing-government”is reduced to RMB 100

May 8, 2007

The date of April 2, 2007 is the first court working day since the implementation of the Rule on Payment of Litigation Fees. According to this Rule, the court fees for a “citizen-suing-government” case of is reduced from RMB 1000 to RMB 100 in relation to trademark, patent, etc. which is decreased by 90 percent.

It is reported that the Rule on Payment of Litigation Fees was passed by the 159th executive meetings of the State Council on December 8, 2006 and promulgated by Decree No. 481 of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. In addition, this Rule also provides the civil litigation fees in the field of intellectual property. If there is no disputed payment or value, one should only pay RMB 500-1000 official fees for civil case; in the meanwhile, if there are disputes regarding payment or value, the litigation fees will be charged with reference to the standards of property cases. The Rule already took effects on April 1, 2007.