CHINA PATENT & TRADEMARK LAW OFFICE
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    • Cracking down trademark squatters under amended trademark law in China
    • How China is acting to combat bad faith trademarks
    • Intellectual Property protection when doing business in China
    • China's intellectual property rights protection improved to create a sound business environment
    • China’s race to become global intellectual property leader
    • China strengthens intellectual property rights protection prior to Beijing 2022
    • Important Trademark Development from China for 2022: What US Brand Owners Need to Know
    • How to Protect Trademarks in China
    • A simple guide to intellectual property in China
    • An Overview of the Latest Amendment to the Chinese Patent Law
    • What We Do When Trademark Squatters Get Smarter in China
    • The most important patent and IP business developments in China in 2021
    • A simple guide to trademark registration in China
    • Protecting your intellectual property in China
    • How To Enforce Intellectual Property Rights In China
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    • China extends lead over U.S. in global patents filings, U.N. says
    • What Do China’s High Patent Numbers Really Mean
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    • How to initiate a trademark infringement civil proceedings in China
    • How to Brand your products for the Huge China Market and Reduce Your Risk
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    • What’s the Difference Between OEM and ODM Products
    • What the amendment to Article 4 of the Chinese Trademark Law means for bad-faith trademark filings
    • China starts rebuff of various metaverse trademark applications amid rush to hype the internet’s next generation
    • China, US and Hong Kong trademarks – A quick guide
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    • How to File a Trademark in China
    • How to Register a Patent in China
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    • China’s Trademark Regime: How to Protect Your Brand in the Mainland
    • China Issues Stricter Rules on Trademark Use
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On April 23, 2019, the National People’s Congress of China has approved to amend the Trademark Law, 1982. The amendment involves 6 articles and will be implemented from November 1, 2019. The amendment modified Article 4 of Trademark Law which provides clear guidance for foreign brands to crackdown bad faith trademark squatters.

In recent years, the procedure of trademark application in China became easier and the cost involved was also reduced. The number of trademark applications in China increases every year. However, many of the applications/registrations are “zombies”, because they are never actually used. This raises the difficulty of getting a trademark registration, as the chance of rejection increases because of the similarity with prior registered or applied-for marks.

As China is a “first-to-file” country, some individuals and entities try to obtain a large number of trademarks by copying or imitating other parties’ trademarks, especially those overseas brands which have not entered into the Chinese market yet, with the intention to sell the trademarks to their real owners or claim trademark infringement maliciously. Due to this malpractice, it has been hard for the small brands’ owners to get their trademarks back through the legal procedures when they face such situations.

The amendments of Trademark Law aim to crack down the counterfeit and bad faith registrations and to strengthen the punishment of trademark infringement.

Below is a comparison of the articles before amendments (2013 version) and after amendments (2019 version).
2013 Version

Any natural person, legal person or other organization that needs to obtain the exclusive right to use a trademark for its goods and services during production and business operations shall apply for trademark registration with the trademark office.

2019 Version

Any natural person, legal person or other organization that needs to obtain the exclusive right to use a trademark for its goods or services during production and business operations shall apply for trademark registration with the trademark office. Any bad faith application for the registration of a trademark that is not intended for use shall be rejected.

Introducing a new clause in the first paragraph of Article 4: “Any bad faith application for the registration of a trademark that is not intended for use shall be rejected.”

Before the amendment, Article 4.1 could not be used as a basis to reject, oppose or invalidate a trademark application/registration. Therefore, from the legal perspective, those individuals and companies that register and hoard trademarks to make profits in bad faith could not be prevented effectively from their malpractice.

After the amendment, there is a legal basis for the Trademark Office to reject such malicious trademark applications. A concerned party can also raise opposition or invalidation procedure based on this article.

However, it is still not clear how to define “trademark not intended for use”. In practice, the number of trademark applications owned by the applicant as well as the applicant’s actual business scope is both taken into consideration.

It also should be noted that some companies may apply for a large number of trademarks for business strategy or IP rights defense. Thus, the examination of a trademark application will also take into account whether the applicant has bad faith or not. If the trademark is legitimate and is applied as a defense mark, it is usually not deemed as bad faith registration.

In summary, the purposes of the recent amendments are very clear,
1) emphasizing trademark use;
2) cracking down bad faith trademark applications/registrations, and
​3) enhancing trademark protection.
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  • Home
  • About
  • IP Services
    • Trademark
    • Patent
    • Utility Model
    • Design
    • Copyright
  • Translation
  • News
    • Why do you need to register a trademark in China
    • What do you need to do to register a Chinese trademark
    • The Difference Between Copyright, Trademark and Patent
    • How And Why To Trademark In China
    • How do I protect myself from Intellectual Property Theft in China
    • How To Protect Your Intellectual Propery (IP) Rights In China
    • 7 Steps to Protect Your Intellectual Property in China
    • China is strengthening intellectual property protection
    • What should a foreign business know about filing a trademark in China
    • A Guide to the Chinese Trademark Registration Process
    • Why you should file your trademark in China now
    • Why is a Trademark Watch Important
    • Differences Between Trademark and Copyright
    • Avoiding IP Infringement with Chinese Sourcing
    • Cracking down trademark squatters under amended trademark law in China
    • How China is acting to combat bad faith trademarks
    • Intellectual Property protection when doing business in China
    • China's intellectual property rights protection improved to create a sound business environment
    • China’s race to become global intellectual property leader
    • China strengthens intellectual property rights protection prior to Beijing 2022
    • Important Trademark Development from China for 2022: What US Brand Owners Need to Know
    • How to Protect Trademarks in China
    • A simple guide to intellectual property in China
    • An Overview of the Latest Amendment to the Chinese Patent Law
    • What We Do When Trademark Squatters Get Smarter in China
    • The most important patent and IP business developments in China in 2021
    • A simple guide to trademark registration in China
    • Protecting your intellectual property in China
    • How To Enforce Intellectual Property Rights In China
    • What China’s new patent laws mean for life sciences
    • China extends lead over U.S. in global patents filings, U.N. says
    • What Do China’s High Patent Numbers Really Mean
    • How to Protect Your Intellectual Property Rights in China
    • Protecting your intellectual property in China
    • Procedure of filing trademark in China
    • The Importance of Having a Chinese Brand Name
    • Why Does Hong Kong Attract International Businesses
    • What’s the Difference Between Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks
    • How to initiate a trademark infringement civil proceedings in China
    • How to Brand your products for the Huge China Market and Reduce Your Risk
    • 8 Trademark Mistakes Your Start-Up Must Avoid
    • What’s the Difference Between OEM and ODM Products
    • What the amendment to Article 4 of the Chinese Trademark Law means for bad-faith trademark filings
    • China starts rebuff of various metaverse trademark applications amid rush to hype the internet’s next generation
    • China, US and Hong Kong trademarks – A quick guide
    • Working with Chinese Trademark Agencies – A Dangerous Game, or Delicate Tightrope
    • China will improve its IP system
    • 12 Intellectual property Protection Tip
    • How to protect your brand in China
    • China Trademark And Brand Development Index 2021: Which Are China's Top Provinces
    • Must I Register My Company Name as a Trademark in China?
    • What You Need to Know About China Trademark Registration as a Foreigner
    • How to File a Trademark in China
    • How to Register a Patent in China
    • How to effectively deal with the preemptive registered trademark in China
    • China’s Trademark Regime: How to Protect Your Brand in the Mainland
    • China Issues Stricter Rules on Trademark Use
    • News
    • News
  • Contact