/ China’s New Trademark Law: Towards a System Based on Use and Strategic Justification

Three years of non-use could be enough for China to cancel a trademark registration on its own initiative. The new Trademark Law, which takes effect on January 1, 2027, will require every application to be backed by genuine use or concrete business plans. If your company exports to or manufactures in China, now is the time to review your portfolio.

Rodrigo Velasco Alessandri
Partner

Laura Hernández Bethermyt
Senior Associate

China’s new Trademark Law takes effect on January 1, 2027, and could radically change the way companies manage their trademarks in the country. Although China will keep its traditional and much-criticized first-to-file principle, the new law significantly strengthens the requirement that trademark registrations reflect a genuine commercial need and actual use of the mark in trade.

The reform targets a practice that has long given the Chinese system its unfortunate reputation: the stockpiling of registrations for speculative purposes, and the filing of applications for third-party trademarks knowingly and in bad faith. At the same time, it seeks to align trademark protection with the actual activities and business plans of rights holders in China.

Among the most significant changes, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) will be able to cancel, ex officio, registrations for trademarks that have not been used for three consecutive years. The opposition period will also be shortened to two months from preliminary publication, making it more important than ever to monitor third-party applications and act promptly. The reform also recognizes new types of distinctive signs, such as motion trademarks, and gives greater weight to evidence of actual use in trade, including use in digital environments.

This does not mean that defensive filing strategies will disappear altogether. A company may have legitimate reasons to register variations of its main trademark or to protect it in classes related to future expansion. According to CNIPA’s first draft guidelines on the matter, this would be acceptable where the filing serves a defensive purpose or reflects future business plans with a reasonable expectation of materializing.

A broad portfolio is not problematic in itself. However, applications could face greater scrutiny from CNIPA if their number or scope is difficult to explain in light of the company’s actual business, and there is no genuine intent to use. Companies should therefore document the reason for seeking protection for each trademark and/or how it relates to their future business plans.

Against this backdrop, keeping records that prove the use of each trademark becomes essential. These may include copies of invoices, purchase orders, contracts, dated screenshots of online stores and/or advertising materials, to name a few. So far, the draft guidelines stress the importance of gathering different, complementary pieces of evidence rather than relying on a single item.

Reviewing your portfolio before the reform takes effect is a valuable opportunity to reorganize and strengthen trademark holdings in one of the world’s most important markets.

Ultimately, and in line with the reform that introduced the use requirement in Chile, China’s new Trademark Law reflects an increasingly visible international trend: prioritizing the real economic function of trademarks over the mere accumulation of registrations. For Chilean companies that export to China, as well as those that manufacture their products there, the challenge will no longer be just protecting their distinctive signs as trademarks, but also showing that those registrations reflect a legitimate and sustainable business strategy.