Trademark in China

A trademark registration 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 registration 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 register a trademark in order to obtain proprietary rights over it.

Trademarks must be registered 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 registration 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 registration ®.  We do not charge any annual fees to maintain the trademark after registration.

In China registered trademarks are valid for a period of 10 years from the registration 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 registration 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.