MOSCOW, April 5 - RAPSI. The Supreme Commercial Court cancelled excessively high duties for foreign residents at the patent service. Pursuant to the current standards, the amount of duty paid by foreigners is seven times higher than that for Russian residents.

Therefore the court satisfied the application by Czech businessman Jan Topol, his attorney Alexander Osokin said.

Foreigners have to pay a duty which is seven times higher than the duty established for Russian citizens when disputing the production documents issued by Russia, which include patens for inventions. Disputes on the lawfulness of the patent grants are considered by the patent agency.

"Such discrimination makes it much more difficult to combat the so-called patent racket, which became wide-spread in Russia due to the flaws in patent legislation," Osokin said.

The Russian government's review reads that the amount of duty collected from the foreigners is in line with the expenses incurred by the patent authority when organizing the consideration of the dispute.

Additionally, the rules of international organizations directly establish a differentiated approach when making payments by applicants from different countries, the review reads.