Register your trademark in China before someone else does

Many foreign companies discover that their trademark is registered in China when it is too late: a distributor, a manufacturer or a stranger filed it first and can now block their shipments or demand payment. In China a trademark belongs to whoever registers it first, not to whoever uses it first.

Why it happens

A registration at home does not protect you in China: each country registers separately. Selling, manufacturing or simply offering products in China without registering your mark leaves the door open. Bad-faith filings are common precisely when a brand starts to grow in the Chinese market.

What to register

• The mark in Latin letters, in the classes of goods and services you use or will use.
• A Chinese-character version. The market will give you a Chinese name if you do not, and someone else can register that name too.
• The right subclasses. The Chinese system divides classes into subclasses; filing in a class without covering the relevant subclasses leaves gaps.

How the process works

The application is filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), can be done from abroad without travelling, and the registration lasts 10 years, renewable. Licences and assignments must be recorded with CNIPA to be valid against third parties, and it is worth recording the mark with Customs so that counterfeits are stopped at the border.

If someone has already registered it

There are options: opposition while the application is pending, invalidation if there was bad faith, and cancellation if the mark has not been used for three years. The 2019 law strengthened sanctions against bad-faith filings, and in malicious infringements courts can award damages of up to five times the harm. The sooner you act, the cheaper and faster it is.

In short

Register in China before you sell, manufacture or show your product there, include a Chinese name and monitor the register. At UB China we handle the clearance search, the application and the defence of your mark.