China's revised Trademark Law takes effect 1 Jan 2027, letting foreign brands oppose bad-faith squatting early and face fines up to RMB 100,000.
Tags:China’s legislature passed the revised Trademark Law. It takes effect on 1 January 2027 — the first comprehensive revision since 1983. For foreign brand owners, bad-faith squatting is the most frequent headache in China, and this revision brings the biggest upgrade to fight squatters.
A local applicant files your brand first, then uses the pending registration to block your customs recordal, open an e-commerce store under your name, or demand ransom payment. The revised law attacks bad-faith filings at three pressure points:
1. Rejection at source (Article 19)
The authorities will reject applications that are not filed for genuine use and clearly exceed normal business needs. Applications obtained by deception or other improper means are explicitly prohibited.
2. New opposition ground (Article 36)
Under the current law, “deception or improper means” can only be raised after registration via invalidation, which is slow and costly. Starting 1 January 2027, any party may raise this ground during the opposition stage, while the application is still under examination.
3. Administrative fines (Articles 54, 67–68)
Bad-faith filings that create adverse effects will trigger a warning and a fine of up to RMB 100,000. Trademark agencies that knowingly handle such filings face fines up to RMB 200,000 for the firm and RMB 100,000 for individual practitioners. All agencies must file personnel information with the trademark authority.
Two critical safeguards for brand owners
The draft Examination Guidelines make it clear: defensive filings are NOT treated as bad faith.
Registering identical or similar marks to protect your own brand remains lawful. Reasonable advance filings for business you genuinely plan to launch in China are also permitted.
The authority will only deem an application bad faith when both conditions are met: the applicant has no intention of use, and the filing scale is grossly disproportionate to its business.
If you plan new filings for China market entry, keep supporting business plans on file together with your trademark portfolio.
Key takeaway
The new rules do not stop legitimate brand protection. They target bulk, useless filings made solely to hijack foreign brands. Before 1 January 2027, review your watch alerts and prepare evidence for any pending squatting applications.
No comments:
Post a Comment