LegalFly IP：
Register Chinese Trademark!

About the Author. Mark Xu, Chinese trademark lawyer, founder of LegalFly IP, Master Degree of International Law of Law School of Nanjing University (QS top 100, Chinese Mainland top 5). 8-year experience of trademark service, successfully registered 1,000+ Chinese trademarks for foreign clients.

WhatsApp: +86-167-8881-8032; E-mail: markxu@legalflyip.com

Question 1: My products are sold in China, should I register Chinese trademark?

Yes, of course, you must register Chinese trademark.

There are two reasons:

l Chinese trademark is the precondition that the products can be put into market for sale, and Chinese distributors, such as supermarkets and conveniences stores always require the product’s brand is registered as Chinese trademark.

l Chinese trademark protects the legitimate owner of the brand when it has been infringed by fake and imitated products.

Question 2: My products are produced and manufactured in China, but are not sold in China at all, should I register Chinese trademark?

Yes, of course, you must register Chinese trademark.

There are two reasons:

l Trademark is the precondition that Chinese factory can legally produce and manufacture the products. The worst circumstance is, if the brand is registered by others as Chinese trademark, that party are entitled to require stopping the production and manufacture.

l Trademark is the precondition for goods’ passing Chinese Customs. (1) Chinese Customs initially checks goods and require the submission of Chinese trademark by its power, and (2) Chinese Customs checks goods and require the submission of Chinese trademark under the requirement of the trademark holder if the brand is registered by others as Chinese trademark. No matter in which circumstance, the goods will be detained by Chinese Customs, which will cause great loss.

Question 3: What are the procedures and timeline for Chinese trademark registration?

Hereunder are the detailed procedures and timeline:

l Step 1: Preparing Business License/Certificate of Incorporation, and Power of Attorney;

l Step 2: We submit application documents to China Trademark Office in 1-2 working days;

l Step 3: China Trademark Office makes form examination in 1 month, and we receive Acceptance Notice when it passes form examination;

l Step 4: China Trademark Office makes substantive examination in 3-5 months;

l Step 5: If China Trademark Office approves the registration application, it enters 3-month Announcement Period;

l Step 6: After the Announcement Period, China Trademark Office issues PDF Trademark Certificate in 1 month.

Question 4: How long does it take to successfully register Chinese trademark?

Usually, we can get result in 4-6 months, which is approval or rejection by China Trademark Office. If approved, it takes another 4 months to get Trademark Certificate.

Therefore, the total time required is 8-10 months from submission of application to obtaining Trademark Certificate.

The trademark right is 10 years from the registration date.

Question 5: Can the procedures and timeline be accelerated or omitted?

Definitely no.

The procedures and timeline are stipulated and fixed by China Trademark Law, which are not allowed to be accelerated or omitted.

Question 6: What is the 'First-Application Principle' of Chinese trademark registration?

 Chinese trademark registration follows 'First-Application Principle', which means, 'who applies first, it belongs to whom', even one day earlier.

For example, A applied brand name XYZ on June 25, 2026, and B applied the same brand name XYZ on June 26, 2026. If the brand name XYZ is registrable, it will belong to A, instead of B, that is because A is the one firstly applied the brand name.

Therefore, it is always highly recommended that you immediately take actions to submit applications of Chinese trademark!

Question 7: What is the fee or cost for registering Chinese trademark?

The normal market price for registering Chinese trademark is USD300-600 per trademark, which differs by each trademark lawyer or trademark agency company.

Our price is USD349 per trademark, which is fixed and transparent, in which all fees for registration are included, such as translation fee, government fee, service fee, etc.

Please must be noted, if the offer price is obviously too low, it is usually unreliable and not trustworthy.

Question 8: What are the documents required for registering Chinese trademark?

There are two legal documents required for registering Chinese trademark:

l Identity document. For company, Business License/Certificate of Incorporation is required; for natural person, passport is required.

l Power of Attorney. We provide Power of Attorney for your company’s seal or natural person’s signature.

Question 9: I am a foreign natural person, not a company, can I register Chinese trademark?

Yes, of course.

Chinese Trademark Law allows foreign natural person to register Chinese trademark. The identity document required for foreign natural person is the passport.

Question 10: I am a foreign company, and I also have a company in China, should I take my foreign company or Chinese company to register Chinese trademark?

Legally, both are ok, but we recommend you to take foreign company to register Chinese trademark, which means, the Chinese trademark is registered under your foreign company, and your foreign company is the owner of the Chinese trademark.

The most important reason is to avoid legal disputes in China. If you take Chinese company to register Chinese trademark, in the circumstance that your Chinese company is involved in legal disputes with other Chinese companies or persons, such as lawsuits, arbitration, assets freezing, etc., the property and assets of your Chinese company will be affected or frozen, including the trademark. Contrarily, if you take foreign company to register Chinese trademark, your trademark will not be affected at all.

However, no matter by which method, the trademark protection right and level is the same in China.

Question 11: What should I register as Chinese trademark?

l Brand name. Brand name is very important! Usually, brand name is a word, which must be applied for registration as Chinese trademark.

l Logo. Usually, logo is a picture, which must be applied for registration as Chinese trademark.

Question 12: As for logo, should I register black-and-white logo or colored logo?

Black-and-white logo is highly recommended, instead of colored logo.

The reason is, if apply for black-and-white logo, when successfully registered, it can be used by any color randomly; contrarily, if apply for colored logo, when successfully registered, it can only be used in the color as registered.

Question 13: If my logo is formed by several parts, like picture and words, should I register them as a whole, or register them separately?

Separated registration is highly recommended, instead of taken as a whole.

There are two reasons:

l The most important is, if register them as a whole, if any part of them is rejected by China Trademark Office, it will lead to the whole to be rejected. This is a great pity!

l If each part is registered separately, when all of them are successfully registered, they can be combined and used randomly; contrarily, if all parts are registered as a whole, when successfully registered, it can only be used as the whole registered.

Question 14: How to choose class and item?

According to NICE Classification, trademarks are divided into 45 classes, in which, Class 1-34 are product trademark, and Class 35-45 are service trademark. Each class has many items. Chinese trademark registration also applies NICE Classification.

Each trademark can only be registered in one class, and each trademark has at least 10 items.

For example, if your product is carpet, then you should choose Class 27, and choose the item ‘carpet’.

For example, if your service is advertising service, then you should choose Class 35, and choose the item ‘advertising’.

We can help you check and choose right class and item.

Question 15: Can you help me check the registrability of my brand name and logo?

Yes, of course.

We are entitled to visit China Trademark Database, and we are willing to help you check the registrability of your brand name and logo, please feel free to ask our help.

Question 16: When can I use the trademark?

After 1 month of the submission of application, we will receive Acceptance Notice; at this moment, you can use the trademark by adding the word ‘TM’ on the upper right corner.

After the trademark has been successfully registered, you can formally use the trademark by adding the mark ‘®️’ on the upper right corner.

Question 17: How does Chinese Trademark Certificate look like?

Hereunder is an example of how Chinese Trademark Certificate looks like.

It is an example of our successful registration for a USA company, which was successfully registered on May, 2026, and the client’s privacy has been hidden.

Question 18: Is my company name shown in Chinese Trademark Certificate?

Yes, of course.

Your English company name and company address are shown in Chinese Trademark Certificate, as the example certificate above.

We will carefully confirm your English company name and company address with you before we formally start the application.

Question 19: Is Chinese Trademark Certificate in electronic version or paper version?

There is only electronic version for Chinese Trademark Certificate, which is a PDF document, and there is no paper version of it.

When we have received the PDF document of your Chinese Trademark Certificate, we will promptly send it to you.

Question 20: Can you guarantee 100% success rate of registration?

Definitely no.

Our judgment of success rate is only for reference, and the final decision is made by China Trademark Office. However, we can make up strategy by our experience, so as to increase the success rate of registration.

Please must be noted, anyone who promises 100% success rate is a liar!

Question 21: If the application is rejected, will you refund to me?

Definitely no.

We help you judge the success rate before submission of application, and try our best to increase the success rate with our experienced strategy, and help you submit application; however, in no circumstance will we refund to you if the application is rejected. That is because, China Trademark Office is the only power to decide whether the application can be registered as trademark.

Question 22: Are you qualified, and how about your experiences in registering Chinese trademark?

Yes, of course.

We are qualified and registered in China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and China Trademark Office, possessing all qualifications to provide China trademark registration service for domestic and foreign clients.

Our team has over 10 members, of whom are very professional in this field, and we have successfully registered 1,000+ Chinese trademarks for foreign clients in the past 8 years.

Question 23: Will you promptly tell me if there is update?

Yes, of course.

We are very professional, proficient, and skilled for providing service to our clients. Every time we receive and get any update and document from China Trademark Office, we always promptly tell and notify our clients. That is why we always have long-time and good relationships with our clients.

Question 24: Can I apply for Chinese trademark by myself?

Definitely no.

As for foreign companies and natural persons, Chinese Trademark Law compulsorily requires them to apply for Chinese trademark through a Chinese agent; it is not allowed that foreign companies and natural persons to apply for Chinese trademark by themselves.

Question 25: Can you provide other legal services except trademark service?

Yes, of course.

We are a lawyer’s team. Except trademark service, we can also provide other legal services for you. For example, Chinese patent service, commercial dispute resolution, GACC registration, establishment of Chinese office, and so on.