Trademark registration in China is an extremely important formality that should preferably be taken care of at the stage of planning investments with Chinese partners and before actually establishing cooperation with counterparts from the Middle Kingdom.
This obligation applies both to foreign companies exporting their products or services to the Chinese market and to importers outsourcing production to factories in China. At Trademark Partners, we assist ambitious entrepreneurs in the process of registering a trademark in China, thus ensuring effective protection of their brand in the new market and enabling safe expansion into the challenging Chinese market.
If you are planning to do business with Chinese partners, you should know one important thing. Even if your trademark is protected in your home country or the European Union, that does not mean it is protected in China. Unless you register it behind the Great Wall, you have no exclusive rights in that territory and no instruments to defend your intellectual property. Trademarks must be registered with the Chinese Trademark Office (CNIPA).
China operates on a first-to-file princilple. This means that the first person to apply for registration has the right to use a given trademark. This means that if you are not the first to register a trademark in China, you will have no protection under Chinese law.
Anyone who wants to have the exclusive right to use their trademark in China, whether they are buying, selling or providing digital services under their trademark in China, should take care of this obligation.
Registering a trademark brings a number of specific benefits to a company. The most important of these are: the right to exclusive use of a particular mark in the market, unambiguous identification of the company’s offer, protection against counterfeiting. In addition, a registered trademark creates a professional image for the company, which in the long term increases the value of the company and the value of the owner. A registered mark is essential if a company wants to expand abroad. In many markets, such as China, trademark protection is essential in order to get a product into the best distribution channels.
Any person can apply for trademark protection in China. Both an individual and a legal entity (company); Chinese as well as non-Chinese.
You can check by searching the database of the Chinese Trademark Office (CNIPA). For more information on how to check, please contact us.
Local filing is the fastest and surest way to apply for brand registration in China. The main advantage is that it allows you to obtain registration faster, select the exact products or services to be applied for according to a standard list adopted by the China Trademark Office (CNIPA). In addition, the local procedure results in the issuance of a local protection certificate, which is required for many other trademark-related procedures beyond the Great Wall, such as applying for the creation of official Chinese social media accounts. A WIPO application does not directly provide such opportunities.
The usual requirements are proof of identity or an English translation of the company’s registration document, together with a power of attorney, a trademark representation (i.e. an image file if you are applying for a figurative mark or a word and figurative mark) and a list of goods/services. A catalogue of the products available under the trademark applied for is very useful.
Yes, in China you can file a trademark application for protection by an individual.
Anyone can apply to register a trade mark, whether an individual or a company.
By filing locally, you will get your registration faster, and you will also get a local certificate straight away, which is very useful for business. These are the main, but not the only, advantages of filing directly for protection in the Middle Kingdom.
In most cases, a local certificate of trademark registration is required to launch a product on the most popular e-commerce platforms, to open official brand communication channels on social media and for other trademark related procedures, such as setting up a border registry, filing for the elimination of counterfeits or unauthorised trading accounts.
The registration process consists of several steps: preparation and filing of the application, substantial examination of the application, publishing the intention to register and, finally, issuing the certificate of protection.
Of course, you can file your trademark in China if you run your own business. Please prepare your business licence in English.
This is not possible. Direct filing can only be done by an authorised local professional agent who is qualified to do so, such as those who work with Trademark Partners.
Typically, an English business licence (originally issued or translated into English) or passport copy (if applying for an individual), a power of attorney, a representation of the mark (graphic file) and a list of goods/services are required.
The Chinese Trademark Office processes trademark applications quickly. The process takes between 6 and 10 months if there are no objections or complications. At Trademark Partners, we have registered several trademarks in as little as 5.5 months.
This is not necessary, you can even apply for a new trademark. However, remember that the trademark must be used within three years of registration, otherwise someone may try to cancel it.
Costs vary depending on the number of classes and products filled. Have a look at our price list.
You can take advantage of priority registration if your trademark has already been registered in another member country of the Paris Convention. You only have six months from the date of filing.
Each brand variant requires a separate application. If the differences between the variants are negligible, no additional applications are required.
This is not an option. A new filing will be required, preferably covering both existing and new products/services. However, in some cases it may be better to submit a notification with new data only. Let us know, we will be happy to advise.
Registration in China is only valid within the mainland of China.
No, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan have separate legal and trademark registration systems. In mainland China, you must apply for trademark protection separately.
Domain registration is not a substitute for trademark registration and does not provide the same level of protection.
Yes, China is a member of the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol. Filing a trademark in China through international institutions has its disadvantages.
You can check this by searching the database of the Chinese Trademark Office (CNIPA).
Yes, China Trademark Office (CNIPA) allows mark registration for digital goods and services.
There is no clear answer to this question. Registering a word mark has its advantages, such as the possibility of using different graphic forms of the mark. On the other hand, the protection of a word and figurative mark has the advantage that it is protected not only on the word level but also on the figurative level.
Yes, China’s intellectual property law allows for the registration of unconventional trademarks, including shapes, colours or even sounds.
Yes, China’s intellectual property law allows for the registration of sound trademarks.
Yes, but enforcing protection in China requires a Chinese trademark registration certificate, vigilance, local support and certainly speed in taking legal action.
Without registration, you may not be able to sell products through the most popular channels, and you may not be able to stop the production and trade of counterfeits. It is generally more difficult to protect and enforce trademark rights. And if someone has registered the same trademark as yours in a product or service category, you will not be able to do business with your trademark in China.
Yes, advertising slogans can be registered as trademarks if they are distinctive and do not directly describe a good or service, e.g. a water producer would not register the trademark “The only healthy water”. In this case, his water is not the only one on the market and it is not possible to determine whether the water as such is healthy, i.e. provides health to the body (there is no scientific evidence for this), or even whether his water is healthier than others on the market or the same. Therefore, since the truth of this claim cannot be established, the registration of such a trademark cannot be allowed.
The registration process is similar, but it is necessary to determine whether the mark relates to goods or services. This is done by selecting the appropriate class in which to file the mark.
Yes, but it is also advisable to register the Chinese equivalent of your trademark for a number of reasons. There are many. You can find a lot of information on this link.
It is not necessary, but highly recommended. For the Chinese, Chinese characters are the natural form of everyday communication. It is easier for them to remember, even if they know English. But not everyone knows them.
If you apply for a trademark with the same wording as another trademark that has already been applied for in the same category, you can expect a refusal. It is better to check the actual situation before applying for protection.
You can appeal. But you have a certain amount of time to do so. To prepare a good argument, you will need help. You will not be able to do this alone. Let us know and we will assess the situation and what we can do. In the meantime, read on to find out more about what you can do if refused. And in the meantime, check out this link for lots of additional information.
You can appeal at any time. You will need to do this through a representative. Let us know and we will assess the situation and the possibility of further action.
You can pursue your rights through the courts or through administrative enforcement. Let us know and we will assess the situation and the possibility of further action.
This is not possible.
Trademark registration (legal protection) in China is valid for 10 years from the date of registration.
The brand can be renewed every ten years. An application to extend the period of protection of a trademark in China to a new period should be filed no earlier than one year but no later than six months before the end of the current period of protection. You will need the support of a professional attorney. Let us know, we will be happy to help.
Our assistance can be of two types. In terms of the trademark issue, we can check whether you are infringing someone else’s trademark rights when you buy from China under your own brand name (i.e. OEM or private label products). In terms of the import itself, we can help you find suppliers, check their reliability and establish business relationships with them.
The certificate confirming the registration of a trademark in China is issued in Chinese only.
The certificate contains the following information: the registration number, the image of the protected mark, the name and address of the right holder (the company for which the mark is registered), the class in which it is protected, the list of protected products or services and the term of protection.