April 14, 2013, the Supreme Court of P.R.China  issued a decision on the revision of the Several Provisions of the Supreme Court on Issues Concerning Applicable Laws to the Trial of Patent Controversies. The revised interpretation took effect on April 15, 2013.

The revised interpretation states that the Supreme Court may, according to the actual circumstances, designate local courts (county-level courts) as courts of first instance over patent disputes.

The revision was made, in part, to provide explicit legal basis for the jurisdiction and trial of civil patent disputes by local courts, and takes into account the large number of cases and the current competence of local courts to conduct such trials.