China’s new trade mark law – a significant step forward for brand owners

On 26 June 2026, China enacted its most impactful change to its trade mark law since its adoption in 1983. These changes will come in to force from 1 January 2027.

The changes in the law are intended to regulate filings and discourage trade mark squatting, streamline authorisation and validation procedures, tighten administration, and enhance protection of exclusive trade mark rights. The list of changes is extensive but we have highlighted some of the most pertinent changes below:

• Bad-faith and excessive filings: applications filed without a genuine intention to use the mark, and which clearly exceed ‘ordinary production and business needs’, may be refused. This is likely to affect large defensive filing programmes and trade mark squatting strategies. Applicants found guilty of such conduct may be subject to a warning and a fine of up to RMB100,000. Trade mark agencies that knowingly assist bad faith filings may also face fines of up to RMB200,000.
• Genuine use and online use: trade mark use expressly includes use through the internet and other information networks, such as e-commerce, live streaming and short video platforms. This change is expected to have significant implications for both non-use cancellation actions and trade mark infringement.
• Ex officio cancellation of unused trade marks: the trade mark authorities will now also have the power to cancel trade marks on their own initiative where the trade mark has not been used for three consecutive years without a justifiable reason, or the trade mark has become generic in relation to the goods/services covered.
• Dynamic marks: dynamic or motion marks will become registrable, subject to functionality exclusions where the dynamic feature results from the nature of the goods, is technically necessary, or gives substantial value to the goods. This change recognises the development of the digital economy and expands the scope of ‘non-traditional’ trade marks in China, although such applications are still likely to face a rigorous assessment of distinctiveness.
• Well-known marks: the revised law no longer requires a well-known mark to be registered in China to enjoy cross class protection. As such, even an unregistered well-known mark may now protect against the use and registration of an identical or similar mark on dissimilar goods or services, provided that such acts are likely to prejudice the interests of the legitimate rights holder.
• Shortened opposition period: the opposition period will be reduced from three months to two months. Trade mark owners should consider trade mark watching services to monitor publication of conflicting applications and should act promptly against these applications considering the shortened opposition timeframe.
• Misleading use and enforcement: trade mark owners should pay particular attention to wording and presentation methods when referring to trade marks in promotional materials and not make any unsupported claims about their product’s characteristics, including quality, ingredients and performance. Enforcement authorities may now order correction where use of a registered mark is liable to mislead the public, with penalties potentially reaching up to five times illegal turnover where turnover exceeds CNY 50,000, or up to CNY 250,000 where it does not.
• Suspension Mechanisms: where a dispute (opposition, appeal, invalidation proceedings) is dependent on the resolution of a related matter, under the new regulations it will be possible to request suspension of the dispute pending the outcome of the related matter. This should serve to reduce the need for parallel proceedings and repeat filings thus reducing overall costs and increasing efficiency for brand owners.
• Statutory right for licensors to terminate license agreements: building on the current rules that the licensor supervises product quality and the licensee guarantees product quality, licensors will now have a statutory right to terminate a license agreement if the licensee fails to fulfil its quality guarantee obligations. This will provide licensors with a remedy if their licensee’s products fall short of the required quality standard and/or damages the brands reputation without the need to rely on the termination provisions of the licence agreement.

This is a notable change in direction for China towards intellectual property, and the detail can feel overwhelming for trade mark owners as to how they can continue to protect their brands in this region.

Here is a seven-point check list of practical points we would advise trade mark owners to consider before the 1st January 2027:

1. Audit China portfolios for defensive or unused filings that may be vulnerable under the new “intent to use/business needs” standard.
2. Collect and preserve online-use evidence, including marketplace listings, social media, website screenshots and China-facing digital advertising.
3. Review filing strategies so specifications align more closely with actual or planned business activity.
4. Consider new filing opportunities for animated logos or other motion-based branding.
5. Strengthen trade mark watching services to ensure that conflicting trade marks are flagged early considering the shortened opposition period.
6. Prepare for stricter enforcement scrutiny where marks are used in a way that could be viewed as misleading.
7. Review existing trade mark disputes to assess whether the new suspension mechanisms can be utilised whilst the challenge to the disputed right is resolved.

If you would like to continue the conversation, please contact the author, Lisa King or another member of our China Desk who will be able to help you.