Trademark protection China: How companies can protect their brands

Companies seeking to protect their trademarks in China can utilise various administrative and judicial methods. The Ecovis experts explain what needs to be considered.

China’s economic development has driven national demand for goods and services, prompting many foreign enterprises to register trademarks in China to distinguish the source of their goods or services and promote their brands. China has its own systems for trademark registration, use, administrative management, and judicial protection.

1. Use trademarks in accordance with registered classes and specified forms

Trademarks must be used in the approved classes of goods or services and strictly in the form stated on the trademark certificate. Otherwise, the Trademark Office may cancel the trademark in accordance with the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Trademark Law). This makes standardised use a prerequisite for trademark protection.

2. Ensure statutory use of trademarks

Trademarks should be used in the sense stipulated by the Trademark Law, i.e., applied to goods, packaging, containers, transaction documents, or used in advertising, exhibitions, and other commercial activities to identify the source of goods. The law stipulates that if a registered trademark is not used for three consecutive years without justifiable reason, any entity or individual may apply to the Trademark Office for its cancellation. Such cases are very common in China.

3. Avoid trademark dilution

Careless use of a trademark may lead to its “dilution” into a generic name for goods (e.g., “JEEP” has become a generic name for off-road vehicles), and the trademark may be lawfully cancelled.

4. Employ a Chinese trademark agency for legal proceedings

Foreign enterprises must apply for trademark registration or deal with trademark matters through a Chinese trademark agency. This reflects China’s judicial sovereignty and facilitates the timely receipt of official documents and notices from the Trademark Office. In opposition, cancellation, or invalidation proceedings, respondents are generally required to respond within 15 days. If the deadline is missed due to document transfer delays, the Trademark Office may reject late submissions, and the trademark owner may lose their rights.

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Wu Haiyin, Senior Partner, K-Insight law firm – Member of ECOVIS International, Shanghai, China

5. Enforce rights against infringements

After obtaining registration, the trademark owner has the right to prevent others from using similar trademarks on the same goods or identical/similar trademarks on similar goods without permission. To determine trademark similarity, refer to the Trademark Trial and Examination Guidelines; for similar goods, refer to the Nice Classification. Note that these references mainly apply to Trademark Office reviews during registration.

In actual infringement cases, courts may expand the criteria for similarity, considering factors such as the trademark’s distinctiveness (including enhanced distinctiveness through use) and the practical usage scenarios of goods (e.g., whether consumers see non-classified goods such as lighters and cigarettes, or coffee and café services as related).

6. Protection for unregistered well-known trademarks

If a foreign enterprise’s trademark is well-known abroad but unregistered in China, the Trademark Law and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China may provide special protection in certain cases (e.g., preventing malicious registration, extending protection across goods categories, or stopping the use of the well-known trademark as a corporate name). Chinese judicial authorities tend to determine the “well-known” status on a case-by-case basis according to the trademark owner’s evidence of reputation, providing targeted protection.

7. Proactive monitoring and legal remedies

Foreign trademark owners should regularly search the Trademark Office’s website for new registration applications, file oppositions within 3 months of a potentially infringing trademark’s preliminary announcement, and initiate cancellation proceedings within 5 years of its registration. They can also monitor e-commerce platforms through keyword or image searches to identify infringing products. As Chinese courts may issue “investigation orders”, lawyers can use these to obtain evidence (e.g., illegal profit data) from platforms. Under specific conditions, trademark owners may be awarded punitive damages of 3 to 5 times the general compensation.

For further information please contact:

Wu Haiyin, Senior Partner, K-Insight law firm – Member of ECOVIS International, Shanghai, China
Email: wuhaiyin@k-insight.com