China's First-to-File Trademark System: File Before You Enter
What first-to-file means for foreign brands, the subclass trap, and a practical filing sequence.
Notes for brand owners, in-house counsel, and foreign law firms, with revised guides listed separately by content-update date. General information only, not legal advice. For advice on a specific matter, contact us.
Latest update: 8 September 2026
Updated guides
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Madrid Protocol vs. Direct National Filing in China
How to choose between centralized Madrid management and the control of a direct Chinese filing.
Trademark Squatting in China: How to Get Your Brand Back
Opposition, invalidation, non-use cancellation, negotiation, and prevention after a mark is taken.
Timeline and Cost of Registering a Trademark in China
The stages, cost categories, renewal cycle, and non-use clock behind a Chinese trademark registration.
How to Respond to a CNIPA Trademark Refusal
Refusal types, the short review deadline, evidence, argument, and parallel filing options.
Recording Your Trademark with China Customs (GACC)
How a national recordal supports Customs screening and what a brand owner should prepare.
2026
China’s New AI Dispute Guidelines: IP Rights, Liability and Evidence for Businesses
ONECHINE IP examines China’s September 2026 AI dispute guidelines: liability, training data, human contribution, patents, open-source software and evidence preservation.
China's Revised Trademark Law: What Changes on 1 January 2027
The enacted changes that matter most to brand owners, foreign associates, and trademark agencies, with a practical pre-effective-date checklist.
What Happens After China Customs Finds Suspected Infringing Goods?
The China Customs IP detention process for trademarks, copyright, and patents, including recordal, rapid response, security, verification, and follow-up enforcement.
Invention, Utility Model, or Design Patent in China?
How to choose among China's invention, utility model, and design patents based on subject matter, examination, speed, term, and enforcement goals.
IP Due Diligence for China Transactions
A practical intellectual-property due-diligence framework for acquisitions, investments, joint ventures, licences, and strategic supplier relationships involving China.
Software Copyright Registration in China
What Chinese software copyright registration does, what it does not prove, and how to prepare ownership and deposit materials before filing.
How to Protect Trade Secrets in China
A practical China trade-secret protection system covering identification, access controls, employees, suppliers, evidence, and incident response.
How Foreign Companies File Patents in China
A practical route map for foreign companies filing invention, utility model, and design patents in China through direct, Paris Convention, or PCT filings.
Enforcing IP Rights on Chinese E-Commerce Platforms
A practical evidence and notice strategy for removing infringing listings and preserving stronger enforcement options.
PCT, Paris Convention, or Direct Foreign Patent Filing?
How Chinese applicants should choose among PCT, Paris Convention, and direct foreign patent filings.
How to Respond to a CNIPA Patent Office Action
A practical framework for responding without losing claim scope or missing the commercial objective.
Who Owns IP Created During Manufacturing in China?
How overseas brands should allocate ownership of tooling, designs, improvements, software, know-how, and filings.
Domain Name Squatting and Dispute Resolution in China
How to investigate and recover abusive .cn, .中国, and generic domain names.
Freedom-to-Operate Analysis Before Entering China
What a China freedom-to-operate analysis covers and how to turn results into launch decisions.
Evidence for a China Trademark Non-Use Cancellation
How non-use cancellation works and how registrants should preserve evidence of genuine use.
Using Chinese Design Patents for Products, GUIs, and Packaging
How to plan design patent filings for product appearance, components, interfaces, and packaging before disclosure.
What to Do When You Find IP Infringement at a China Trade Show
A before, during, and after plan for preserving evidence and choosing an enforcement channel.
China Patent Timelines, Costs, and Maintenance
How to manage a Chinese patent from filing through examination, grant, annual fees, review, and expiry.
Trademark Assignments and Licences in China
The practical differences between assignment and licensing, with due diligence, recordal, and quality-control checks.
2025
A Global IP Filing Strategy for Chinese Companies
A staged trademark, patent, design, copyright, domain, and contract strategy for Chinese companies entering overseas markets.
Patent Reexamination, Invalidation, and Litigation in China
How these procedures differ and how to coordinate them around one commercial dispute.
Opposition, Invalidation, or Non-Use Cancellation in China?
A decision guide based on status, deadline, grounds, evidence, and business objective.