Because registration in China is not about finding customers there. It is about four things that happen where the product is made: who owns the name on the register, what your factory can do with it, what happens at the port, and what an acquirer or investor sees when they look you up. We have written about the first two at length, so here is the honest version.
The argument you have probably already heard, and its weakness
The usual pitch is that China is first to file, someone will take your name, and you should file. That is true, and on its own it is a weak argument, because it describes a risk without saying what the risk costs. A brand owner who has traded in China for two years without a problem is entitled to ask what they are buying.
Four concrete things are what they are buying.
One: the right to keep the name when you change supplier
Moving to a new factory is routine. Doing it while the old factory holds your brand name is not. The registration is what makes a supplier switch an operational task rather than a negotiation, and in our files this is the single most common reason a mid-sized exporter ends up paying for a name that should have been theirs.
It also decides which supplier will work with you. A new factory taking on a brand it cannot verify is taking on risk it does not need, and the first thing a careful one asks for is the registration number.
Two: something to enforce with, at the border and online
China Customs acts on rights recorded with it, and its remit covers exports. Marketplaces act on a registration or application number. Complaint desks at trade fairs act on documents you can produce on the day.
None of those bodies is asking whether you sell in China. They are asking whether you hold a right they can act on. That is the whole test, and it is why the answer does not change when your customers are all abroad. The mechanics are in customs recordal.
Three: clean title, which is what due diligence looks at
This is the reason most often missed, and it is the one that costs the most when it is missed late.
Anyone buying your company, investing in it, or licensing your brand will check where the brand is protected, and they will check the Chinese register if you manufacture there. A name that is registered in your markets and open in the country of manufacture reads as an unresolved risk, and it gets priced into the deal or written up as a warranty item. We have seen a brand asked to prove ownership of its Chinese classes as a condition of a distribution agreement, with the counterparty’s lawyer doing the reading.
Filing early is also cheaper than filing under a deadline. A searched, planned application costs US$199 per class in Essential, with the CNIPA official fee of about US$39 included. The same application filed in a hurry after a squatter appears costs the same in fees and considerably more in legal work.
Four: it closes the door on a particular kind of argument
Where a Chinese party holds your name and you hold nothing, the dispute starts from a document disadvantage. You have to prove prior use, influence and bad faith with evidence, on their home register, in their system. Where you hold the registration, the argument inverts: the other side has to explain why your name was available to them, and the question of who files can no longer be used against you.
That advantage is worth having even if you never enforce it, because it changes the conversation before it becomes a dispute. In our experience the demand letters that never get sent are the most valuable part of the filing.
When the honest answer is to wait
Three situations where we tell clients to keep the money, for now.
- The name is not yours to protect. If the brand belongs to your customer and you make goods under it, the filing belongs with the customer, and we will say so rather than take the order.
- The brand is about to change. If a rebrand is already decided, filing the outgoing name is a fee spent on a mark you are leaving.
- You have searched and decided the risk is acceptable. That is a legitimate decision when you would never enforce, never enforce at a border, and have no plans to raise money or sell the business. Write it down, so the decision is deliberate.
What we would still do in the third case is the search itself, which is free with us. Knowing what sits near your mark in your class is useful whether or not you file, and it is the input for the decision. The general cost-benefit write-up is in is a China trademark worth it.
What it costs, in one table
| Item | Price | When it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Essential, one class | US$199, official fee included | The minimum useful filing for a single-product exporter |
| Standard, one class | US$299 | Adds 12 months of monitoring and a written re-examination assessment if refused |
| Registered or Refunded, one class | US$499 | Word marks, refunded in full if CNIPA finally refuses on relative grounds within 15 months |
| Monitoring | US$399 per year | Catches later filings inside the three-month opposition window |
| Customs recordal | US$199 | Once the certificate issues. No official fee |
| Name or address change | US$199 | If the applicant entity or its address changes |
A single-class exporter with a monitoring subscription is looking at roughly US$600 in the first year including the recordal. That is the whole cost of the position described above, and it is less than one contested month at customs.
Quick answers
Does registering in China create any obligation to sell there?
No. There is no requirement to trade in China to hold a registration, and no minimum sales. The one thing to watch is that a mark which is never used anywhere can be cancelled after three consecutive years of non-use under Article 49.
If I only make goods for export, is the mark used in China?
This is a live question in Chinese practice, and the answer has been fact-specific. Keep evidence of the brand’s use: packaging, catalogues, advertising, websites and trade documents. We plan for evidence rather than for the grey area.
Is one class enough if I never sell here?
It is usually enough for the product, and not enough for the packaging if the box sits in a different class. Ask us and we will tell you which of your classes is genuinely exposed.
What does a squatted name cost to recover?
More than the filing in every scenario, and sometimes it cannot be recovered at all. The four routes and their timelines are in trademark squatting in China.
Can a Chinese company hold it for me as a trustee?
Technically yes, and we advise against it. A trustee holds a right that you may need to call on at the worst possible moment, and unwinding it later is a second transaction with its own cost.
Sources
Articles 31 and 49 of the PRC Trademark Law (first to file, cancellation for non-use); Article 18 (agency requirement for foreign applicants); CNIPA fee schedule; General Administration of Customs. General information, not legal advice, and outcomes rest with CNIPA. ChinaIPMark coordinates the work; filings are submitted by a CNIPA-registered agency.
Start with the free search
Give us the brand name and the product. We will search the CNIPA register in the classes that matter, tell you whether the name is free, and quote a filing if you want one. If the honest answer is that you should wait, we will say that too. Write to us or see the packages on the registration page, with prices on the pricing page.
