Change of trademark owner in China

The process of changing the owner of a trademark in China consists of changing the natural or legal person (company) that has the exclusive right to use the trademark for a particular class of products. The change of trademark owner is a procedure that most often takes place, for example, at the final stage of negotiations on the transfer of trademark rights between two interested parties, if the subject of the acquisition is also a trademark. The change of the owner of the rights to a given trademark may also take place between related parties, e.g. between two companies with common capital or the same investor.

Who decides to change the owner of a trademark in China?

In order to change the owner of a trademark in China, an application must first be
prepared and filed with the Chinese Patent Office (otherwise known as the CNIPA, the
Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration). It is important that the application
submitted bears the signatures of both parties involved in the trademark ownership
change process.

The final decision on whether to make the requested amendment rests with the Chinese
Office, although the Office will not normally refuse to transfer the right between
applicants. This may happen if at least one of the parties to the transfer does not have
the right of representation at the time of the application. In other words, if the transferor of
the trademark rights is a company that has already been removed from the company
database at the time of application, the Office will refuse the transfer.

If the change of trademark owner in China is approved by the Chinese office, it must be
officially announced in the Official Bulletin. This means that the new owner of the rights to
a particular trademark can only use it exclusively after the Chinese Patent Office has
published this information and obtained a certificate of transfer.

How to change the owner of a trademark in China?

In a situation where the registration of a trade mark in China has taken the form of an application made directly to the Chinese Patent Office, the procedure for changing ownership should be completed in a similar way. For this purpose, it is necessary to prepare and submit an application to the Chinese office. Even if the transferor of the trademark in China also owns other similar or identical trademarks registered with the local patent office for similar or identical goods or services, he is not obliged to transfer all the trademarks. Only one selected mark can be transferred.

In the Middle Kingdom, this formality can only be carried out through a professional representative. Therefore, if you want to effectively change the owner of a trademark in China, you should contact a qualified intermediary. At Trademark Partners, we offer fast and professional assistance in this process. Thanks to our constant presence in China and our extensive experience in dealing with the Chinese authorities, we are able to act immediately and provide effective assistance in the change of ownership of trademarks.

Legal aspects of changing the ownership of a trademark

When planning to change the ownership of a trademark in China, it is important to remember that each party to the transaction must have the right of representation at the time of filing the application. In the case of legal entities, this means that they must have an active status – and therefore appear in the eyes of the law as an operating company that has the full right to make a declaration of will on the day of filing the application with the Trademark Office.