Practical guides on registering, using and protecting trademarks in China.
Assignment, licence and change of particulars each need a CNIPA recordal. The official fees are small, but an unrecorded licence cannot be asserted and an unrecorded transfer leaves the wrong owner on the register.
Read articleA conflicting application opposed in the three-month window costs RMB 450. The same mark caught after registration needs invalidation. How China trademark monitoring works, and what to watch.
Read articleThe official CNIPA fee is RMB 270 per class. Here is the complete 2026 cost structure - official fees, mandatory agent work, conditional refusal costs, and the ten-year total.
Read articleSomeone has registered your brand in China. Your remedy depends on how old the registration is - opposition, invalidation, the five-year rule, and what remains when the window closes.
Read articleA Chinese registration lasts ten years and is cancelled outright if the renewal is missed. The deadlines, the official fees, and why renewal does not protect an unused mark.
Read articleCNIPA does not accept English corporate documents. Why Inc. becomes 公司 and not 股份有限公司, what a certified translation must contain, and the rules that keep it out of a correction notice.
Read articleCNIPA examines every Chinese trademark application. Where the office came from, what it handles, how examination works, and why older documents still say CTMO.
Read articleYour agent drafts, files and defends your application in a system that works only in Chinese. How to tell the 40,000 registered agencies apart — and which promises are unlawful.
Read articleBoth routes reach the same register, but Madrid ties your Chinese registration to your home mark for five years. How cost, timeline and central attack risk compare.
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