China’s New Trademark Law: Preparing Your Trademark Portfolio for 2027
China’s revised Trademark Law takes effect January 1, 2027.
For businesses with Chinese trademark registrations—or companies planning to enter the Chinese market—the months leading up to the effective date provide an opportunity to review existing trademark protection and make strategic adjustments.
The new law places greater emphasis on legitimate use, addresses bad-faith filing activity, shortens the opposition period, and strengthens enforcement mechanisms.
So, what should brand owners do now?
1. Review Your Chinese Trademark Portfolio
Start with a comprehensive review of your existing Chinese trademark registrations and pending applications.
Ask:
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What marks are currently registered?
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Which marks are actually being used?
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Are the goods and services still relevant to the business?
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Have the company’s products or services expanded?
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Are additional filings needed?
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Are there registrations that no longer correspond to the company’s commercial activities?
A portfolio review can identify gaps, redundancies, and potential vulnerabilities.
2. Make Sure Your Filing Strategy Reflects Your Business
Trademark filings should be connected to the company’s actual and anticipated business activities.
Companies should consider their:
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Current products and services;
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Planned product launches;
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New markets;
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Licensing arrangements;
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Corporate expansion;
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Digital businesses; and
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Future brand extensions.
The objective is not simply to accumulate trademark registrations. It is to develop a portfolio that provides meaningful protection for the company’s brands.
3. Strengthen Your Evidence of Use
The revised law makes legitimate use particularly important.
Companies should maintain organized records demonstrating how their trademarks are used in China.
Depending on the business, useful evidence may include:
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Packaging;
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Product photographs;
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Advertising;
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Websites;
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E-commerce listings;
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Invoices;
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Sales records;
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Promotional materials;
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Licensing documents; and
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Other commercial records.
Businesses should not wait until a dispute arises to determine whether they have evidence demonstrating use.
4. Evaluate Your Trademark Monitoring Program
The reduction of the opposition period from three months to two months makes timely monitoring even more important.
Businesses should ask:
How quickly will we know if someone applies for a trademark that potentially conflicts with ours?
If the answer is “after the application is registered,” the company may be missing an important opportunity.
Trademark monitoring can provide an early warning system, allowing a company to investigate potentially conflicting applications and determine whether further action is appropriate.
5. Identify Potential Bad-Faith Registrations
Companies should also review whether third parties have registered or applied for marks that are identical or confusingly similar to their important brands.
This can include:
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Identical brand names;
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Similar spellings;
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Translations or transliterations;
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Logos and design elements;
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Product names;
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House marks; and
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Key brand extensions.
The appropriate response will depend on the circumstances. Potential options may include opposition, invalidation, negotiation, cancellation, or other enforcement mechanisms.
6. Protect Emerging Digital Brands
The recognition of dynamic or motion marks is particularly relevant for businesses operating in digital environments.
Companies increasingly use animated logos, moving graphics, digital interfaces, and other dynamic branding.
As the categories of protectable marks evolve, companies should consider whether their trademark portfolios adequately protect the way their brands actually appear in the marketplace.
7. Preserve Evidence of Brand Reputation
Companies with highly recognized brands should also maintain evidence supporting the reputation of those marks.
This may become important when asserting rights associated with well-known trademarks.
Evidence should be maintained as part of the company’s regular brand-management process rather than collected only after litigation or a trademark dispute begins.
8. Coordinate Your Global Trademark Strategy
China should be considered as part of a company’s broader international trademark strategy.
A global brand may need protection in the United States, China, Europe, Canada, and numerous other jurisdictions.
However, trademark laws and procedures differ from country to country.
A filing strategy that works in one jurisdiction may not translate directly to another.
International companies should therefore coordinate their trademark portfolios while accounting for the specific requirements and enforcement environment of each jurisdiction.
The Bigger Picture
China’s revised Trademark Law is more than a change to individual filing procedures.
It reflects a broader effort to create a trademark system that better distinguishes legitimate brand protection from bad-faith registration activity and excessive accumulation of trademark rights.
For brand owners, the practical takeaway is to become more proactive.
Register strategically. Monitor consistently. Document use. Review your portfolio. Act quickly when potential conflicts arise.
The January 1, 2027 effective date provides an important planning milestone for companies with Chinese trademark interests.
A trademark portfolio should not remain static while a company’s business changes. As products, services, markets, and branding strategies evolve, trademark protection should evolve with them.
Preparing for 2027
If your company owns trademarks in China, now is an appropriate time to ask whether your portfolio is aligned with your current business and whether your monitoring and enforcement strategy provides sufficient time to respond to potentially conflicting marks.
For international businesses, proactive trademark management can help identify potential problems before they become more difficult and expensive to resolve.
The best time to evaluate your trademark strategy is before a problem arises.