Dropshipping sellers do not hold inventory, which makes China trademarks easy to skip and easy to lose. If your suppliers are in China, your brand and your product design are exposed there, and first-to-file means someone else can take them.
Why dropshippers are targets
Your supplier sees your sales data and your winning products. Without a registered brand, nothing stops them from listing your name or selling your design to a competitor. Squatters also watch successful listings and file the names first. The cost of the filing is small next to the risk.
What to file
- The brand name in the class of the products you sell
- The logo, as a separate figurative mark
- A design patent for any product with a distinctive look
When it matters most
The minimum set, and the order to file it
For a dropshipper sourcing from China, the minimum is one trademark in the class of the goods you actually sell, filed in your own name rather than the supplier’s. The order matters: search the name first, file before you place a large order, and only then build the listing.
Why the supplier’s name is the trap. Factories routinely file the brands they produce, sometimes to protect their own position, sometimes to sell the mark back. If the mark is in the factory’s name and you later want to switch suppliers, you switch without your brand.
After the trademark, the next filings depend on the product. A distinctive product shape or packaging is worth a design patent, and a customs recordal becomes available once the mark registers. Both are cheap relative to losing the product to a copycat who can ship faster than you can complain.
If you sell on marketplaces that operate in China, or your supplier could become a competitor, file before you scale. If you are already seeing copycat listings, the enforcement guide explains the options. Send us your product and market and we will tell you the minimal filing set for your situation.
For the underlying rules, see CNIPA‘s official guidance.
