China trademark questions, answered

No. Foreign companies and individuals can file directly with the CNIPA through a licensed agent. You need no Chinese entity, no local address, and no visa. Your registration is valid for 10 years and renewable.

No — China is strictly first-to-file. A US or EU registration gives you no rights in China. Many foreign brands only discover a supplier or squatter has already registered their name, which can block their own products or force a buy-back. File early.

One class, the CNIPA official fee, up to 10 goods/services items, our service fee, Power of Attorney preparation and Chinese translation, filing, and stage-by-stage updates. Extra classes are $269 each; extra items beyond 10 are $15 each.

Officially 9–12 months from filing. In a clean, unopposed file we often see it closer to 7–9 months. You receive the acceptance notice in about two weeks, and we report every stage.

You can file a review of refusal within 15 days — a separate service from $499, taking about 6–12 months. We assess your refusal notice free of charge and advise whether a review is worthwhile before you spend anything.

Yes, and we recommend it. Because China is first-to-file, the best time to file is before you negotiate with suppliers, list on a marketplace, or enter the market — not after a conflict appears.

Words, logos, slogans, specific colours (as applied), sounds, and three-dimensional shapes can all be registered, provided they are distinctive. Generic or purely descriptive terms are harder to protect.

If you use, or plan to use, a Chinese name in marketing, packaging, or on platforms like Tmall/JD, register it too. Many foreign brands are copied in Chinese transliteration first, so protecting both the Latin and Chinese forms is wise.

It depends on what you sell and your expansion plans. A typical brand files in 1–3 classes. Apparel often needs 25 (clothing) plus 35 (retail); software needs 9 and/or 42; consumer goods add 3, 30/32/33. We map this in your free search.

Each class needs a description of the specific goods/services you claim. The CNIPA fee covers up to 10 items per class; beyond that, extra items are $15 each. Too narrow leaves gaps; too broad can trigger a clarification request. We draft the wording for you.

Yes — a written availability search against the CNIPA register is free and comes before any payment. We report conflicts and give you a firm quote so you decide with full information.

No search can guarantee approval — examination is at the CNIPA's discretion. But a proper clearance search sharply reduces the risk of a close-conflict refusal and helps us choose the safest classes and wording.

Yes. Individuals and companies alike can own a China trademark. You simply sign the Power of Attorney we provide; we handle the rest.

Just your brand (name/logo), the goods or services you sell, and your entity or personal details. We prepare and translate the Power of Attorney and the application for you.

We send you a simple POA form. You sign it (a scanned copy is normally acceptable for filing) and return it; we translate it into Chinese and submit it with the application. No notarisation is required for most foreign applicants.

Official fees are included in our flat price, so you don't see them as a separate line. Our $299/class covers the official filing fee plus our service — no hourly billing, no surprise invoices.

Yes. We handle renewals (every 10 years), assignments (ownership transfers), licence recordals, name/address changes, monitoring, opposition and invalidation — the full lifecycle.

By bank transfer (T/T). You pay only after you have confirmed our written search result and fixed quote. We send the filing receipt once payment is received.

Yes. We report every stage in plain English: acceptance, publication, and registration. You are never left wondering what is happening with your application.

China TradeMark Pro is operated through a CNIPA-registered trademark agency with 8+ years of experience handling international filings — 5,000+ trademark matters for clients in 50+ countries. Your application is filed by licensed local counsel.