No. A US or EU registration does not stop anyone filing your mark in China, because CNIPA examines Chinese applications against the Chinese register. You need the situation to change in one specific way: a Chinese filing of your own, or a Chinese procedure that your existing use can support.
The situation, stated plainly
Your brand is used somewhere. Someone in China notices it, files it in a class it was free in, and pays about US$39 in official fees. Nothing about your US or EU certificate appears in the examination, and no intent test applies at the filing stage. That is the whole mechanism, and it explains why squatting is a filing problem rather than a sales problem.
There is one exception to the “your foreign mark does nothing” rule, and it is time-limited: a Paris Convention priority claim, made inside six months of your first filing for that mark, moves your Chinese application date back to the overseas one. After six months it is gone, and it cannot be revived. The mechanics are in the priority claim guide.
Four situations, and what actually helps in each
| Your situation | What you can do | Realistic strength |
|---|---|---|
| You filed the same mark abroad within the last six months and have not filed in China | File in China now and declare the priority claim, with a certified copy inside three months | Strong. It moves your date ahead of the squatter’s |
| The squatter’s application is published and inside three months | Opposition under Article 33, with your use and your overseas rights as evidence | Strong, and time-critical. The window is fixed |
| The squatter’s mark is already registered | Invalidation on bad faith grounds under Articles 32 and 45, with evidence that the filer knew of your use | Depends on evidence. No five-year limit where bad faith is established |
| The mark is registered but unused for three years | Non-use cancellation under Article 49 | Moderate, and often the cheapest way to clear the register |
Why the well-known mark route is usually the wrong first answer
Article 13 protects well-known marks against confusing use, and in some situations against non-confusing use. Articles 14 sets out what CNIPA and the courts weigh. Owners read that and conclude they are covered because they are famous at home.
The test is recognition by the relevant Chinese public, and a following in another market is not the same thing. We have seen this argued with a thick file of foreign press coverage and it did not carry the day, because the question was what Chinese consumers and traders knew. Treat Article 13 as a route that can be built over time, not as a substitute for filing.
What evidence makes a squatting case work
Where the priority window is gone and the mark is registered, the case turns on evidence. In our files, four categories decide it.
- Dates of first use, outside China. Launch dates, marketplace listing dates, first invoices, catalogue editions. Overseas use supports the account of who the brand is, even though it is not a Chinese right.
- Contact with the filer. Quotations, sample requests, purchase orders, WeChat or email threads, introduced samples. Anything showing the filer knew of the brand before filing is the strongest material in the file.
- Your own filings. Records for the mark in other jurisdictions, and any Chinese application of your own, which we would file at the same time so that the position is protected whichever way the case goes.
- Use in China, if any. Packaging, trade documents, exhibitions, advertisements. This is where the OEM-export question matters, because production for export is use of a kind in China even without domestic sales.
What you can do before any of this happens
- File in the classes you make in. This is the only measure that removes the opportunity rather than reacting to it.
- Claim priority where the window is open. If your first filing for the mark is recent, the claim is cheap relative to its effect.
- Watch the register. Monitoring at US$399 a year finds later filings while they are published, which is the difference between an opposition and an invalidation. The checks we suggest are in trademark monitoring.
- Keep the evidence as you go. Launch materials, booth photographs, invoices. Evidence gathered at the time is much stronger than evidence reconstructed later.
Quick answers
Can I oppose a Chinese application using my EU registration?
You can rely on your prior use and your rights abroad as evidence. What you cannot do is point at a Chinese registration you do not have. The strength of the opposition comes from the facts, not from the certificate.
Does my mark count as well known in China because it is famous at home?
Not automatically. Recognition by the relevant Chinese public is what the assessment looks at, and it is decided on evidence in each case.
What if the squatter has already registered and is using the mark?
That is the hardest version, and it becomes an argument rather than a filing. The routes and their timelines are in trademark squatting in China.
Is it worth filing in China if the squatter is already there?
Usually yes, in the classes you can get. A registration of your own supports the invalidation, covers the goods the squatter did not take, and gives customs and platforms something to act on.
How quickly should I act after I find out?
Immediately, and the reason is the calendar rather than the strength of your case. Opposition has a three-month window from publication; after that, the cheapest route is gone.
Sources
Articles 13 and 14 on well-known marks, 25 on priority, 31, 32 and 45 on first to file, prior rights and invalidation, 33 on the three-month opposition window, and 49 on non-use cancellation, all of the PRC Trademark Law; WIPO on the Paris Convention; CNIPA. General information, not legal advice, and outcomes rest with CNIPA and the courts.
Send us the name and the dates
Give us the brand name, your first filing date for it, and the market you use it in. We will search the Chinese register free of charge and tell you which of the four routes above is still open, with the dates that decide it. Filing starts with the registration service, and a message is enough to start the search.
