– Trademark Law, in force since March 1, 1983, as amended on July 1, 1993, December 1, 2001, May 1, 2014, and on November 1, 2019.
– Implementing Regulations under the Trademark Law, revised by the State Council on January 3, 1988; second Revision of July 28, 1993, third Revision of September 15, 2002, and fourth Revision of May 1, 2014.

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since June 3, 1980.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since March 19, 1985.
– Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, since October 4, 1989.
– Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks, Geneva Act, since August 9, 1994.
– Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, since December 1, 1995.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since December 11, 2001.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since November 7, 2023.

Applicant: any duly registered enterprise, institution, or individual producer or trader, may apply for trade and/or service mark registration.

Foreigners not living in the country: any foreigner or foreign enterprise intending to apply for the registration of a trademark in China shall file an application in accordance with the agreement concluded between the People’s Republic of China and the country to which the applicant belongs, or according to the international treaty to which both countries are parties, or on the basis of the principle of reciprocity.

Kinds of protection: trade and/or service marks are protectable.

Definition of trade/service mark: any sign that is capable of distinguishing goods or services of one natural person, legal person or entity from that of the others, including words, designs, letters, numerals, three-dimensional devices, color schemes, as well as combinations thereof, and sounds.

Collective and certification marks: registrable.

Novelty: the Trademark Office refuses the registration when the trademark is identical with or similar to the trademark of another person which, in respect of the same or similar goods, has been registered or, after examination, preliminarily approved.

Distinctiveness: a trademark must be distinctive.

Not registrable: the following words or designs cannot be used as trademarks: (1) those identical with or similar to the State name, national flag, national emblem, national anthem, military flag, military anthem, or decorations, of the People’s Republic of China, as well as those identical with or similar to the name of the particular location and/or the name and design of the symbolic buildings of the Central Government; (2) those identical with or similar to the State names, national flags, national emblems, or military flags, of foreign countries, unless otherwise authorized by the government of the said country; (3) those identical with or similar to the name, flags, and insignia of intergovernmental organizations, unless otherwise authorized by the said organizations or unlikely to mislead the public; (4) those identical with or similar to the indication of control or warranty of official sign or hallmark, unless otherwise authorized; (5) those identical with or similar to the symbols, or names, of the Red Cross or the Red Crescent; (6) those having the nature of discrimination against any nationality; (7) those having the nature of exaggeration and deceit; (8) those detrimental to socialist morals or customs, or having other unhealthy influences; and (9) geographic names of administrative districts at or above the county level; commonly known foreign geographic names, except those which carry other meaning and except those which form parts of the certification and collective marks. Registered trademarks in which geographic names are used shall remain valid.

Pharmaceuticals for human beings and tobacco products: the registration of trademarks for these products is compulsory.

Priority: according to the Paris Convention (six months).

Classification of goods: from November 1, 1988, the International Classification of Goods (11th Edition) has replaced the Chinese Classification. 

Multi-class applications: possible. The designation of goods or services must be specific and according to the classification book edited by the Trademark Office; general terms or subclass terms are not accepted. A fee has to be paid for each item in excess of ten.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney (late filing is not possible, but the Trademark Office accepts fax copies), no legalization;
2. An extract from the Commercial Register or ID of the applicant (photocopy is acceptable);
3. No print of the trademark label is needed, but if the trademark is in color, 1 black and white print must be submitted;
4. Priority document, if any (must be filed within three months after the filing date in China).

Electronic filing: available. 

Electronic signatures: are not accepted (only wet signatures).

For renewal: power of attorney, copy of an extract from the Commercial Register or ID of the registrant.

For assignments: power of attorney signed by assignor and assignee separately, form of application for assignment signed jointly by assignor and assignee, and a copy of Certificate of Incorporation of the assignor and assignee.

For change of name: power of attorney, a document certifying the change of the name of the registrant.

For change of address: power of attorney, copy of an extract from the Commercial Register or ID of the registrant, application for change of address.

For recordal of trade or service mark license: power of attorney signed by the registrant, an application form for recordal of license signed by the licensor and licensee, and a copy of Certificate of Incorporation of the licensor and licensee.

Examination: as to formal defects and anteriorities. Upon receipt of the application, an examination is made as to the formal correctness of the documents, the registrability of the mark and the existence of prior conflicting application or registration. If the Examiner considers an application should be amended or additional information/explanation should be provided, an Office action will be issued to request such amendment or information/explanation. The Trademark Office should complete the examination of a trademark application within nine months, and preliminarily publish the trademark application accordingly if the application is in conformity with the Trademark Law.

Publication: after examination and preliminary approval by the Trademark Office, the trademark is published in the Trademark Gazette. The Trademark Gazette will be published electronically only in the form of discs as of 2004.

Opposition: any person may, within three months from the date of the publication (for international marks [Madrid]: starting on the first day of the month following the publication in “Les Marques Internationales”), file an opposition against the registration of the trademark that is believed to have violated absolute grounds for refusal (Articles 10, 11 and 12); a prior rights owner or an interested party may file an opposition against the registration of the trademark that has violated relative grounds for refusal (Articles 13.2 and 13.3, 15, 16.1, 30, 31 and 32). If no opposition is filed, or if it is decided that the opposition is not justified, registration is approved, a trademark certificate issued and the registered trademark published.

Review: if the applicant is not satisfied with a decision by the Trademark Office, he may, within fifteen days from the receipt of the notification, apply for a review. The said time limit cannot be extended. The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall make a decision within nine months and notify the applicant in writing.

Appeal: the decision of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board can be appealed within thirty days of receipt to the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, and the decision of the Court can be further appealed to a higher Court, whose decision will be final.

Interference: if two or more applicants apply for the registration of identical or similar trademarks for the same or similar goods, the preliminary approval, after examination, and the publication shall be accorded to the trademark which was first filed, or if the applications were filed on the same day, to the trademark which was the earliest used; the other applications shall be refused. If both marks were not used, registration shall be granted upon a settlement agreed to by both parties, or determination by lot.

Disclaimers: available. 

Letters of consent: are generally accepted, unless the goods/services and the marks in question are confusingly similar or almost identical. Letters of consent originating from China should be notarized in China. Letters of consent originating from outside China should be notarized by a Notary Public in the country of the earlier mark owner and then legalized by a Chinese Embassy or Consulate.

Delivery of document: from January 1, 2022, paper trademark registration certificates will no longer be issued. The registration certificate can be viewed and downloaded from the Trademark Office's online service system.

Validity: ten years from the date of registration.

Renewal: an application for renewal of the registration can be filed during the last twelve (12) months of the validity. When no such application is filed within the validity term, a grace period of six (6) months will be allowed. If no application is filed by the expiration of the grace period, the registration of the trademark is cancelled. The term of validity of each renewal of registration is ten years.

Reclassification: trademarks, which are renewed after November 1, 1988, are reclassified according to the international system by the Trademark Office.

Assignment: the assignor and assignee are to jointly file an application with the Trademark Office. Assignment of collective and certification marks are not allowed.

Registration of change: when, after the registration of a trademark, the name, address or other registered matters concerning the registrant change, an application regarding the changes has to be filed. A new registration is to be applied for, if any word and/or design of a registered trademark is to be altered.

Use: compulsory. Any trademark, which is registered in the People’s Republic of China, is to be used in China. If the registered mark ceases to be used in China for three consecutive years from the registration date, anyone may apply for cancellation of that registration. The Trademark Office shall order the registrant to rectify the situation within a specified period or shall cancel the registration. Use by a licensee (license should be recorded) as well as exhibition of goods and/or advertisement or other commercial activity in China in respect of which the trademark is used, is considered as valid use of the trademark in China.

Marking: is compulsory and the marking shall be upon the goods, or, if that is inconvenient, on the packaging, description or other attachment to the goods.

License: must be registered. Any trade or service mark registrant may, by signing a trade or service mark license contract, authorize other person to use his registered mark. The name of the licensee and source of origin of goods must be indicated on the goods made by the licensee. The licensor is obligated to supervise the quality of goods or services in respect of which the mark is used by the licensee. The trademark or service mark license is to be submitted to the Trademark Office for recordal.

Cancellation after registration: if a mark being not registrable was registered or a registration is acquired fraudulently or by deceptive or improper means, it may be declared invalid by the Trademark Office. Other entities or individuals may also apply to the Trademark Office to declare such registration invalid. A trademark or service mark owner or an interested party may request the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to declare a registered mark invalid, within five years from the date of approval of the mark registration, if the registration of the trademark has violated relative grounds for refusal (Articles 13.2 and 13.3, 15, 16.1, 30, 31 and 32).

Re-registration: identical or similar trade or service marks cannot be registered during one year after the cancellation or the removal (expiration) of a registration. If the cancellation was based on non-use, the blockage period is not applied.

Infringement and penalties: any of the following acts is an infringement of the exclusive right to use a registered trade or service mark: (1) to use a mark which is identical with other’s registered trademark on identical goods, without the authorization of the proprietor of the registered mark; (2) to use an identical mark on similar goods, or similar mark on identical goods, without the authorization of the proprietor of the registered mark, and likely to cause confusion; (3) to sell or offer counterfeits of goods or services protected by a registered mark; (4) to replace the registered trademark of the goods and put the goods into the marketplace once again without the authorization of the trademark owner; (5) to cause, in other respects prejudice to the exclusive right to use the registered mark of another person; and (6) to intentionally facilitate trademark infringement for others or provide assistance to others’ infringement acts. The administrative authorities for industry and commerce concerned have the power to order the infringer to stop the infringing act immediately. If the circumstances are serious, the said authorities may, in addition, impose a fine. If the act of counterfeiting constitutes a criminal offense, criminal responsibility is to be investigated. In serious case, the counterfeiter can be liable for a prison term of up to seven years in addition to fines. If the exclusive right to use the registered trademark was infringed, the party whose right was infringed may institute proceedings directly with the People’s Court.

Liability for damage: the amount of compensation for the damage caused by the infringement shall be assessed on the basis of the profits earned by the infringer, the loss suffered by the infringed party, or the license fee of the trademark, including reasonable costs for stopping the infringement on the part of the infringed party. In case it is difficult to determine the loss suffered by the infringed party, the profit earned by the infringer, or the license fee, the Court may, according to the actual scenario of the case, determine an amount of up to RMB 3,000,000 as compensation for the damage. However, if someone unknowingly sells products that infringe the rights of a registered trademark and can prove that he has obtained the products legitimately and is able to provide his source for the products, he shall not be liable for the damage. 

Preliminary injunction: where the trademark registrant or interested party has evidence to prove that a third party is infringing or is about to infringe the rights of a registered trademark, and that if such infringing act is not timely stopped, is likely to cause irreparable damage, he may, before initiating legal proceedings, request the People’s Court to adopt measures for ordering the stoppage of such act and the preservation of property. For the purpose of stopping infringement act, under the circumstance where there is a likelihood that evidence may be destroyed or lost or become difficult to obtain later, the trademark registrant or interested party may request the People’s Court that the evidence be preserved before initiating legal proceedings. The People’s Court, after acceptance of the request, shall make a decision within 48 hours; if it is decided that the preservation measures shall be taken, the Court shall act immediately.