CHINA PATENT & TRADEMARK LAW OFFICE
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    • 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
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Intellectual property (IP) protection is a longstanding and critical concern for companies operating in China, which has also been a key point of contention in the US-China trade war. China has already made strides in recent years to improve IP protection as the government seeks to spur domestic Chinese innovation and improve the business environment for investment, such as revising its IP laws and establishing a new national IP appeals court. However, challenges remain, as counterfeiters and infringers are getting increasingly sophisticated. For example, infringers may take advantage of procedural loopholes and proactively seek to invalidate legitimate IP rights. Companies are thus suggested to develop a comprehensive strategy to identify and protect their IP in China. This includes enhancing internal controls and making the best use of external resources.
IP registration in China

In China, IP is defined as a proprietary right enjoyed by a holder with respect to their works, inventions, trademarks, geographical indications, trade secrets, layout design of integrated circuits, new varieties of plants, etc. Among others, copyrights on works, patent rights on inventions, utility models, and designs, and trademark rights, are the most common IP rights.
China follows the principle of territoriality in IP protection, meaning IP rights acquired under the laws of a country can only be valid and protected within the territory of that country unless an international convention or bilateral or multilateral agreement is in place. What that means is that enjoying IP rights in your home country will not secure your IP rights in China.  A domestic IP registration/filing in China is necessary to effectively protect your IP in the country. Besides, China mainly applies a “first-to-file” rule for IP registration, which means that the first entity or individual who registers IP rights will hold those rights exclusively, irrelevant of the original user, with limited exceptions. Thus, the first and foremost strategy we can provide is to register/file your IP rights in China as early as possible. We summarize the registration matters for patent, copyright, and trademark in the tables below.
Patent registration in China
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Copyright registration in China
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Trademark registration in China
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Set up a thorough internal IP protection system

IP protection is a long-term project that the China market participants must always pay attention to.
Besides registration, businesses are also suggested to establish a thorough internal IP protection system, to adopt preventive measures to protect IP, and to confront IP infringements in business operations. This system can be set up with the help of external third-party professional services, especially for businesses that are new to China and have limited knowledge of China’s trademark protection situation. Among others, the below strategies serve as good starting points:
  • Provide training for all employees (especially those who have access to key IP information) to ensure their actions do not compromise the organization’s IP protection.
  • Control and monitor employee’s access to key equipment and areas and limit the likelihood that any one employee has access to all the information needed to copy IP.
  • Incorporate IP protection to facility design and business’s daily operational processes.
  • Utilize technologies to track and protect IP.
  • Be careful with business partners and include proper IP protection clauses in all contracts and agreements.
  • Assign a specific team or personnel to focus on IP management, including integrating the IP related data and tracking the status of the IP protection.
  • Actively monitor for infringement at industry trade shows and trade fairs, through IP publications, and on Internet.
  • Monitor competitor’s IP status to see if there is any chance to take proactive defending actions.
  • Assess the registration necessity in any country/region and get the registration started as early as possible.
  • Take actions to fight against any infringement by competitors and/or any other participants of the target market.
Make good use of the current IP protection measures implemented by China

China has been making substantial efforts to improve the IP protection offered in the country. Besides launching a lawsuit, a more time and cost efficient way might be to report to the competent authority directly, which can help IP rights holders achieve the following:
  • Force the infringer to stop infringing immediately
  • Confiscate illegal gains of infringer.
  • Impose penalty on infringer.
  • Require the infringer to compensate the right owner as per asked by the owner.
Filing your IP rights with China customs

For businesses engaging in import-export, they are suggested to file their patent, copyright, or trademark, with the customs authorities. This is necessary because:
  • It is a prerequisite for the customs to take active IP protection measures.
  • It helps customs to find infringing goods.
  • It can have a deterrent effect on the infringer.
To file with customs, applicants shall either be the IP owner (for trademark and patent, its IP registration shall be done with the competent authority of China and for copyright, its country of origin should be a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works) or a qualified agent in China. The IP customs filing takes around 1.5 months and the general procedure is as follows:
  • Documentation preparation
  • Application submitting
  • Review of application
  • Fee payment
  • Filing successful
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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