Trademarks: Register in China Before Someone Else Does

China Field Notes · by Daona · 13 min read

A founder meets a distributor at a trade fair. Three months later, the distributor has applied to register the founder's brand in its own name. Or export goods are stopped because someone else holds the registration. Or a marketplace takes down the official store after a complaint from an unknown "rights holder".

These stories follow from one principle: China runs a first-to-file (申请在先) system. A foreign registration or years of sales elsewhere do not, by themselves, give rights in China. Registration with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (国家知识产权局, CNIPA) does. And a revised Trademark Law (商标法) takes effect on 1 January 2027.

Exclusive rights arise from registration; the earlier filing generally wins. The law protects earlier used marks with "a certain influence" and well-known marks, but proving either is slow and uncertain.

· Your home registration does not travel. Rights are territorial. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are separate trademark jurisdictions as well.

· Timing is everything. Once your brand is visible to Chinese counterparts — a fair, a distributor talk, a sample order — someone can file. File before.

· Only listed goods are protected. Clothing does not cover cosmetics.

Who files. A foreign company with no place of business in China must use a lawfully established trademark agency (商标代理机构). A WFOE (Issue 05) can file itself, but most groups file in the parent's name and license the WFOE.

China uses the Nice Classification (尼斯分类) of 45 classes, but examiners also apply the Similar Goods and Services Classification (类似商品和服务区分表), which splits each class into sub-classes (类似群). Goods in the same sub-class are generally similar; in different sub-classes, generally not — even within one class.

· List items from each sub-class your products span.

· Use standard descriptions where possible to avoid objections.

· Class 35 (advertising and business services) is a favourite of squatters targeting online stores; tech companies look at Classes 9 and 42.

The market will give your brand a Chinese name whether you choose one or not. If you have not registered it, someone else can.

· Choose deliberately — sound, meaning or both — and have native speakers check pronunciation and connotations.

· Register it as a separate mark in the same classes. A Latin mark does not cover its Chinese equivalent.

· File the logo on its own as well as the word marks.

· Search first. A CNIPA clearance search shows conflicts early.

A refusal can be appealed by review (驳回复审) within 15 days of receipt; partial refusals are common. A registration lasts 10 years and is renewable for 10-year periods, filed in the 12 months before expiry, with a six-month grace period.

Since 2019, Article 4 requires CNIPA to reject bad-faith applications not intended for use (不以使用为目的的恶意商标注册申请). CNIPA applies it in examination, opposition and invalidation, and has tightened scrutiny of agencies and abusive cancellation filings.

All take months, longer with court appeals. Evidence decides: dated proof of prior use, the relationship, emails, contracts, the filer's other filings. Don't pay the squatter as a first response — have a licensed agency or law firm assess the legal routes first.

From 1 January 2027

The revised law, adopted 26 June 2026, reportedly:

· shortens opposition from three months to two;

· allows a warning and fine of up to ¥100,000 for bad-faith applicants where adverse effects follow;

· recognises use through the internet as trademark use;

· protects unregistered well-known marks against dissimilar goods.

Until then the 2019 text applies; implementing regulations are still to come.

For a brand that matters in China, file directly — at least the core classes and the Chinese name.

· Use it and keep evidence — dated fapiao (Issue 08), packaging, listings — against three-year non-use attacks.

· Record licences with CNIPA (商标使用许可备案). An unrecorded licence cannot be asserted against a bona fide third party.

· Record with customs. The General Administration of Customs (海关总署, GACC) can detain suspected infringing goods on import and export. Recordal generally lasts 10 years or until the mark expires; sources report no official fee — confirm with GACC.

· Watch the Gazette for similar filings.

· Join platform brand programmes, which require a Chinese certificate.

A European homeware brand files direct applications for its Latin word mark and a Chinese name in Classes 21, 35 and 20 — 15 items in Class 21, 10 in each of the others:

Illustrative. Agency, search and translation fees are additional and vary by firm.

The alternative — recovering a Chinese name a distributor registered first — runs through invalidation and possibly court appeals, while marketplace and customs actions may run against you. The arithmetic is not close.

File before you talk. Chinese filings belong in the pre-launch plan, before the first fair or distributor meeting.

Latin mark, Chinese name, logo — separately. Three filings in your core classes is the usual start.

Draft to sub-classes, including where a squatter might sit next to you.

Put brand ownership in contracts (Issue 11): the brand is yours, no filing, any filing transferred. Check counterparties' filings in a partner check (Issue 07).

Use licensed help. Filings, oppositions and invalidations are handled by licensed trademark agencies and law firms. Daona is not an IP agency or law firm; we coordinate and introduce, and agency and CNIPA fees are settled by the client directly at cost.

"Our EU registration covers China." It does not.

"We used it first, so we win." First use helps only at the margins.

"One class covers our product line." Only listed items, read by sub-class.

"We don't need a Chinese name." The market will give you one. Make sure it is yours.

"Article 4 will defeat the squatter automatically." You still have to act, with evidence.

"Our distributor registered it for us." Then the distributor owns it.

Rules as of October 2026. This column provides general information, not legal advice. Trademark searches, filings, oppositions, invalidations and customs recordals should be handled by a licensed trademark agency or law firm; CNIPA and GACC requirements and fees should be confirmed at the time of filing. Government fees and licensed firms' fees are settled by the client at cost.

China Field Notes · by Daona