THE REVISION IN CONTEXT
China adopted a comprehensively revised Trademark Law on 26 June 2026. It will take effect on 1 January 2027, replacing the 2019-amended text. The new law reorganizes the statute into nine chapters and 87 articles and changes both substantive rules and day-to-day procedure.
This client alert distils the changes most likely to affect international brand owners, in-house teams, foreign associates, and trademark agencies. It is based on ONECHINE IP's article-by-article comparison of the 2019 and 2026 texts. It is a practical overview, not a substitute for the full statute or matter-specific advice.
EIGHT CHANGES AT A GLANCE
Registration standards are more explicit. The revised law creates a dedicated chapter on registration conditions and expressly addresses newer sign types, including dynamic signs, while retaining distinctiveness and public-interest limits.
Bad-faith and excessive filing controls are recast. Article 19 links filings that clearly exceed normal business needs with an improper purpose. How authorities will interpret the combined test remains an important open issue.
The opposition window is shorter. Article 36 reduces the statutory period from three months to two months. International instruction, evidence collection, translation, notarization, and filing workflows will need to move earlier.
Suspension receives an express statutory basis. Review and adjudication procedures may be suspended where the outcome depends on another pending matter, giving parallel proceedings a clearer coordination mechanism.
The one-year filing barrier is narrowed in the text. Article 49 retains the barrier for a voluntarily cancelled registration but does not repeat it for invalidation, revocation, or expiry. This may materially change refiling strategy, subject to transitional and implementing rules.
Misleading registered-mark use becomes a cancellation issue. Article 56 introduces an express route where use of a registered mark misleads the public. The provision may become relevant in enforcement and legacy squatting disputes, although its threshold needs further guidance.
Agency and practitioner duties are substantially strengthened. Articles 65, 67, and 68 introduce filing or record-management obligations, conflict restrictions, due-diligence duties, and direct exposure for responsible practitioners.
Enforcement and damages rules are refined. The revision expands the statutory framework for infringement, malicious litigation, evidence, and damages. It also broadens the factors that may support recognition of a well-known mark, including the right holder's protection record.
WHAT THE TEXT MEANS IN PRACTICE
Oppositions will become an intake problem as much as a legal problem. A two-month period leaves little room to wait for complete instructions. Watch notices, conflict assessment, engagement checks, evidence requests, and filing authority should be standardized before publication occurs.
Old blocking marks deserve a second look. Matters previously constrained by a one-year isolation period may support earlier refiling after invalidation, revocation, or non-renewal. Article 56 may also provide an additional line of analysis where the registrant's actual use misleads the public.
Trademark use should be managed as compliance evidence. Brand owners should preserve dated, product-linked, territory-specific records and ensure that the registered mark is not used in a way that distorts source, quality, or other material characteristics.
Agencies need auditable systems. Written client-intake review, conflict checks, authority records, practitioner files, and escalation procedures should be capable of demonstrating compliance, not merely supporting production work.
BEFORE 1 JANUARY 2027
For brand owners: audit important portfolios and use evidence; review old squatting and blocking-mark files; identify oppositions likely to publish around the transition; update licence, assignment, coexistence, and enforcement templates; and align trademark claims with product presentation and advertising.
For foreign associates: revise client alerts and deadline guides; shorten opposition instruction schedules; agree evidence and authorization protocols with Chinese counsel; and flag matters that may depend on new suspension, refiling, or cancellation rules.
For agencies and practitioners: map new statutory duties to owners and records; update article references in templates; implement documented intake and conflict checks; review practitioner filing requirements; and train teams on refusal, cancellation, invalidation, and enforcement changes.
ISSUES STILL TO WATCH
The enacted text does not answer every operational question. Implementing and transitional materials are still needed on the meaning of normal business needs under Article 19, the threshold for misleading use under Article 56, ex officio cancellation procedure, evidence supplementation, agency and practitioner record management, Madrid-designated matters, coexistence arrangements, and the treatment of proceedings that straddle 1 January 2027.
Those questions should be treated as open. Current matters should be planned under the law and procedure presently in force while preserving options under the revised law.
OFFICIAL SOURCES
CNIPA: Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, revised 2026
This article is general information, not legal advice for a specific matter. It reflects the enacted text and ONECHINE IP's practical reading as of 23 August 2026. Implementing rules and transitional arrangements may change how individual provisions operate. For advice on your situation, contact our team.