China 2023 – Protecting your Trademarks in China Report

China is known for having a high volume of trademark applications. In 2021 alone, despite the influence of Covid-19, there were over nine million new trademark applications filed in China, an increase of 1% from the previous year but 20% more than 2019. Since 2018 the CNIPA has specifically increased their examination speed for all kinds of trademark cases and

it can be assumed this has had an impact on the volume of applications filed. In fact, the filing number has become so large that CNIPA stopped publishing the filing number for 2022. However, it is also worth noting that from 2019 to 2022 the number of trademark registrations actually had been consistently decreasing, clearly showing that to successfully register a trademark in China is becoming more challenging.

“It is clear that the trademark registration space in China is very crowded, so let's take a look at how to successfully register a trademark, starting with the process to follow'.

This report has now been updated to include material on the draft of the 2023 amendment to trademark law. This draft recommends changes that will help to combat bad faith filings and lead the trademark process in China to be more friendly to authentic trademark owners, and to be overall more efficient.