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

I. Introduction

Recently, a clothes company located in a South American country found us, of which the boss would like to register his brand as Chinese trademark. We immediately started his project when we received his message.

There are 2 reasons why he would like to register Chinese trademark. The first one is that his clothes products are produced and manufactured in Chinese factory; the second one is, although his clothes products have not been sold in Chinese market, he would like to do so in the near future.

According to Chinese Customs, the total export amount of clothes in 2025 was USD151.2 billion, which means Chinese factory produced huge amount of clothes for foreign brands.

II. Class and Items Choice for Clothes

The first work we did for him is to determine class and items.

It is easy for us to determine that the trademark for clothes should be registered in Class 25, which is the core class for clothes products.

After which, we have confirmed the registrability of his brand name, which means, there is no existing similar registered trademark compared to his brand name.

And then, we picked up 12 items in Class 25 for him, and they are: T-shirt, baby’s clothing, special sport’s clothing, waterproof clothing, theatrical costumes, shoes, hats, socks, gloves, ties, belts, shower cap.

III. Why Did We Choose 12 Items Instead of 10 Items?

Hereunder is the reason.

Each Chinese trademark must have at least 10 items. In Class 25, there are 12 subclasses, and they are 2501-2513 without 2506, and each subclass has many items.

If we pick up 1 item in each subclass, the entire subclass will be protected; therefore, if we pick up 12 items in all 12 subclasses, that is, 1 item for 1 subclass, then the entire Class 25 will be protected.

That is why we highly recommend him to register 12 items, so as to protect the entire Class 25, and he gladly accepted our advice.

IV. Documents Preparation

We asked him to provide the business license of his company, and then, we require our qualified translation company partner to translate it into Chinese, and then, we made Power of Attorney.

Therefore, there are 3 documents, they are: original business license, Chinese version business license, Power of Attorney.

After he has sealed and signed all the 3 documents, we submitted the application to China Trademark Office.

V. Subsequent Procedures

The application will go through subsequent procedures, they are: (1) form examination for 1 month; (2) substantive examination for 3-5 months; (3) Announcement Period for 3 months (if approved); (4) obtaining Chinese Trademark Certificate for 1 month.

Overall, it takes 4-6 months to know the result, and 8-10 months to get the registration certificate.

VI. More FAQs about Chinese Trademark Registration

For more frequently asked questions about how to register Chinese trademark, please see FAQs article in our official website, and hereunder is the article link:

https://legalflyip.com/FAQs.html

Questions are also welcomed, please contact our WhatsApp: +86-167-8881-8032.

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