Monday, July 6, 2026 Edition
China Has Changed Its Trademark Rules and This Matters Far Beyond Companies That Manufacture There
If your trademark is not registered in China, technically, it is not yours there.
It never was. And from January 1, 2027, that statement will carry more weight than ever.
On June 26, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress approved the fifth amendment to the country’s Trademark Law since it was enacted in 1982, following previous revisions in 1993, 2001, 2014, and 2019.
The amended law will enter into force on January 1, 2027.
The scale of this transformation is best understood through one figure. In 2013, China had received a cumulative total of 13.24 million trademark applications and granted 8.65 million registrations.
Today, China has more than 49.8 million active registered trademarks almost seven times as many in just over a decade.
Its trademark office continues to process, by a considerable margin, more applications than any other office in the world.
For years, the main question businesses asked about China was industrial: Where should we manufacture? With whom? At what cost?
Today, another increasingly urgent question must be added: Should I register my trademark there, or will someone else do it before me?
The True Scale of the Market
According to the latest WIPO report, World Intellectual Property Indicators 2025, based on 2024 data, the global ranking of active trademark registrations shows the extraordinary scale of the Chinese system.
The European Union Intellectual Property Office, France, Japan, Mexico, and South Korea complete the global top ten, each with between 1.7 million and 2.3 million active trademark registrations.
China has almost 14 times more active trademark registrations than the United States, which ranks second.
China is not merely the global leader. It is operating in an entirely different category.
What Is Changing In Simplified Terms
A broader range of signs may qualify for trademark protection
Businesses will be able to register certain signs that previously did not qualify, including animated logos, sounds, and even specific colors associated with a product.
The digital world is finally being given a clearer place within the trademark framework.
Online use will officially count as genuine trademark use
Using a trademark online—including through social media, ecommerce platforms, and digital advertising will formally qualify as genuine use.
This may become particularly important where a third party seeks to cancel a registration on the grounds that the trademark has not been used.
Stronger measures against bad-faith trademark filings
The reform directly targets parties that register other businesses’ trademarks in order to resell them, hold them for ransom, or block competitors.
Penalties may now apply not only to the agents who process the filings, but also to the parties behind the bad-faith applications.
A one-year restriction following trademark cancellation
Where a trademark is cancelled, no one may register an identical or highly similar sign for a period of one year.
This closes a loophole that had previously been exploited by cancelling a registration and attempting to appropriate the same sign immediately afterwards.
A shorter opposition period
Businesses will have less time to react when another party applies for a trademark that is identical or similar to theirs.
The opposition period will be reduced from three months to two.
Two Business Perspectives
The reform creates new opportunities
It expands the categories of signs that may be protected through non-traditional trademarks, strengthens the tools available to legitimate rights holders, and gives the authorities greater scope to act directly against applications filed without a genuine intention to use the mark.
It also creates new operational demands
Businesses with trademark rights in China will need greater management discipline.
This means active monitoring, particularly because the opposition period will fall to two months, properly documented evidence of use, and close attention to how the amended rules are interpreted and applied on a case-by-case basis over the coming months.
Both perspectives are valid.
The decisive factor will be how well prepared each brand is to operate under the new standard.
Our Perspective
In 2013, when China had received around 13 million trademark applications, very few companies outside Asia regarded the country as a trademark registration priority. The conversation was almost entirely focused on manufacturing.
Twelve years and five legal reforms later, with nearly 50 million trademarks on the register and a substantial lead over every other jurisdiction, that conversation has changed.
It is increasingly less about where you manufacture and more about how effectively you protect what truly creates value for your business: your trademark, your designs, and your identity.
Manufacturing in China without a trademark registration strategy in today’s technology-driven economy means leaving the door open for someone else to legally take control of what belongs to you.
Does your brand’s position in China depend on having a reliable supplier, or on holding a trademark registration that genuinely belongs to you?
Is Your Trademark Strategy in China Ready for 2027?
At BRANDLEX, we work with companies that want to understand not only what is changing under China’s new Trademark Law, but also how those changes affect their specific operations.
We help businesses determine what should be registered, which assets should be prioritized, and how existing rights should be defended before the reform enters into force.
Key questions include:
- Is my trademark actually registered in China, or am I relying only on a strong contract with my manufacturer?
- Which non-traditional assets should I register now, such as an animated logo, sound, or color?
- What should I do if someone applies for a similar trademark before I do?
- What evidence of use should I retain to avoid losing protection?
Contact us at info@brand-lex.com
#China #IntellectualProperty #LegalTech #Trademarks #InternationalTrade