Point of law: whether the amount of the State duty to be paid for the adoption of a decision concerning an objection against the issuance of a patent may be different for residents and non-residents?

Ratio decidendi: in the opinion of the Court, the rules on the amount of duties to be paid by residents and non-residents provide for distinctions which may not be justified by any objective reasons and affect competition in a negative way. Besides, they contradict Art 2 of the Civil Code (national regime for foreign citizens) and international obligations of the Russian Federation, in particular the principles of WTO, Art 3 of the TRIPS as well as a number of articles of the Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the European Communities, which by virtue of Art 15 (part 4) of the Constitution of the Russian Federation are a constitutive part of the legal system of the Russian Federation.

Practical consequences: the Decision has entered into legal force, since by a ruling of a panel of judges of the Supreme Commercial Court it was denied submission to the Presidium for reversal.