Yes. Foreigners or foreign enterprises can apply for trademark registration in China.
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Under China’s Company Law, foreigners or foreign enterprises can apply for trademark registration in China.
Foreigners or foreign enterprises are those that have no habitual residence or business office in China.
Foreigners or foreign enterprises shall entrust Chinese trademark agencies to apply for trademark registration in China. In contrast, Chinese individuals or enterprises may apply for trademark registration themselves.
1. How to register a trademark in China?
You have two options:
Option one: local application in China
You may apply for trademark registration directly to China’s Trademark Office. All you need to do is to entrust a Chinese trademark agency.
Option two: international application
If you already have a trademark in your country, you may seek registration in China by filing an international application according to the Madrid Protocol with the International Bureau of the World Property Intellectual Organization (WIPO), through your country’s trademark registration authority, since China has joined the Madrid Protocol.
2. Please value your priority
If you have registered the trademark in your country, within six months, you have priority when you register the trademark in China. This will prevent your trademark from being registered by someone else in China.
Under China’s Trademark Law, if you file another application for registration of the same trademark in China within six months from the date of your first application for trademark registration in another country, you can claim priority in China.
This means that during the six months, you are still entitled to the trademark even if you apply for trademark registration later than someone else.
So, you’d better apply for a Chinese trademark within the priority period.
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Photo by Sarah Arista on Unsplash
Contributors: Meng Yu 余萌
