Practical Questions about Trade Mark Registration in China

No, because US registration provides no protection in China due to the principle of territoriality. However, if you file for the same mark and goods/services in China within six months of your US filing date, you can claim priority based on the US filing date. If your US trade mark includes graphic design elements and constitutes copyrighted artwork, and you find that others have preempted your mark in China, your US trade mark registration may serve as proof of your earlier copyright. Copyright is protected worldwide, so this could provide legal grounds for you to file an opposition or post-registration invalidation petition against the preemptive application or registration in China.

This step is not necessary, but it is recommended. In China, a combined logo and word mark will be examined separately for the logo and word parts. If either part conflicts with an earlier mark, the entire combined mark will be refused. However, if you file them separately, it is possible that one of them could go through substantive examination more smoothly. Additionally, a combined mark is viewed as a single unit. A trade mark should be used in the form in which it is registered. If you register the logo and word together as one mark, using either the word or logo separately will not be protected by the registration. Best practice is to file separate applications for the word mark and the logo, to ensure smoother examination and broader protection.

Unlike many countries which use the 45 Nice Classification classes without further division, China divides each class into subclasses, also known as "similar groups". Trade mark protection in China is limited to the specific subclasses you designate. For instance, within Class 25 (for clothing, footwear, and headgear), there are distinct subclasses for "clothing" (2501–2505), "footwear" (2507), "headgear" (2508), and "hosiery" (2509). Registering your mark for "clothing" does not grant you exclusive rights for "footwear", "headgear" or "hosiery".  To obtain full protection, you must carefully select and cover all relevant subclasses within a class. This requires a more tailored approach than in many other jurisdictions.

No, China does not permit additions to the list of goods or services after filing. Once an application has been submitted, it is not possible to expand the scope of protection by adding new items unless the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issues a notification requiring the amendment of unacceptable descriptions of goods and services. In such circumstances, you may be able to add items of a similar nature to those questioned by CNIPA examiners. If you require protection for additional goods or services beyond the scope of your initial application, you must file a new, separate application.

You can file an appeal with the CNIPA Appeal Board within 30 days of receiving the refusal notice. This includes a 15-day period for receiving the notice electronically and a subsequent 15-day period for filing the appeal, as stipulated by law. This deadline is strictly non-extendable, but you can submit a brief notice of appeal in time and then provide detailed arguments and evidence within three months. The appeal should address the grounds of refusal; in this case, it should address the similarity to prior marks. If the cited prior mark has been registered for three years without use, you can also file a non-use cancellation against it as an additional way of overcoming the obstacle. You may also wish to consider negotiating a consent letter from the owner of the prior mark. However, note that the CNIPA is not obliged to accept such consent if it concludes that there is a likelihood of confusion. In fact, consent letters have rarely been accepted in recent years.

Chinese examiners strictly enforce distinctiveness and do not tolerate marks that could be considered misleading. Trade marks that merely describe the quality, function or raw materials of the product, or that could be considered misleading in this respect, are usually refused. There is also less and less room for suggestive marks. Invented terms are more likely to be accepted. If your application is refused, you can file an appeal with the CNIPA Appeal Board within 30 days of receiving the refusal notice. Descriptive marks can be accepted for registration if distinctiveness has been acquired through use, although the burden of proof is considerable.

If a squatter has registered your brand in bad faith, you can initiate legal action, such as:

1.  An opposition if the squatter’s application is still within the three-month publication period.

2.  An invalidation petition if the trade mark has already been registered. You will generally need to prove prior use/rights and demonstrate the squatter's bad faith. Recent administrative and judicial practice developments have established that bad faith alone is enough to remove a trade mark from the registry.

3. A non-use cancellation if the trade mark has been registered for more than three years and is not in use. Many bad faith trade marks were registered in an attempt to make a profit through trade mark transfer, the majority of which are not actually put to commercial use.

Direct CNIPA: This is typically faster (7–12 months) and allows for broader coverage of goods and services by utilising the subclass system. It also results in a "stand-alone" Chinese registration. Madrid System: It is cheaper for multiple countries, but the processing time is longer (12–18 months) and the Chinese registration depends on the "home" registration for the first five years (known as a "central attack").

The deadline is effectively 30 days from the date of the WIPO notification because the law presumes that a WIPO notification takes 15 days to reach the holder and allows an additional 15 days for filing an appeal. For example, if the notification date is 1 March 2026, the deadline will be 31 March 2026. You have the option of filing an appeal with the CNIPA Appeal Board to contest the refusal, with the assistance of a Chinese trade mark agent. While the deadline is strictly non-extendable, you can file a brief notice of appeal in time to meet it, and then supplement the detailed arguments and evidence within the subsequent three months.