Trademark in China

A trademark formation offers you exclusive rights to the use of your brand name. That means you can prevent others from using the same or similar brand name or logo in the Chinese market.

This can be important especially when you have a popular brand name under which you sell products directly to consumers, as copycats may infringe on your trademark rights by selling the same or similar products.

Distributors or retailers require a copy of relevant China trademark certificates before you are allowed to sell products through their channels. No trademark formation in China often means it is practically not possible to sell your branded products in China.

China is a “first-to-file” jurisdiction, meaning that it is necessary to set up a trademark in order to obtain proprietary rights over it.

Trademarks must be set uped via the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce of the People’s Republic of China.

We will assist you in the preparation of the documents required to set up a trademark formation which includes a copy of your Business License plus a completed Trademark Application form, as well as your designed trademark. It will take approximately 3 months to set up the trade mark ™ and 12 months minimum for formation ®.  We do not charge any annual fees to maintain the trademark after formation.

In China set uped trademarks are valid for a period of 10 years from the formation date. They can then be renewed for subsequent ten-year periods indefinitely. The renewal of the trademark can be requested as early as 6 months before the expiration date and as late as 6 months after pending the payment of a late renewal fee.

Any enterprise intending to file a trademark formation application in China should provide with the following documents and materials:

1. Instruction letter.

2. Power of Attorney.

3. Prints of the trademark.

4. Priority document.

5. Special certificates.

6. Additional documents required for an application of certificate trademark.

7. Additional documents required for an application of collective trademark.