China IP, explained for the people who actually file
Short, specific guides on getting a brand registered and defended in China — the questions we answer on calls every week, written down so you do not have to book one.
How to Register a Trademark in China as a Foreign Company
You do not need a Chinese subsidiary, a local director or a joint-venture partner. You need a filing, a class list and roughly three to four months. Here is the whole process, including the parts that catch overseas applicants out.
Someone Filed Your Brand in China. Here Is What Actually Works.
A Chinese registration in someone else's name is not the end of your market. It is a problem with four distinct solutions, and picking the wrong one first is how brands lose eighteen months.
Madrid Designation or Direct CNIPA Filing? The Trade-Off Nobody Explains
Both routes end at the same register. What differs is who controls the goods list, what happens if your home mark falls, and whether anyone is on record to answer a Chinese office action before the deadline.
China Customs Recordal: The Cheapest Defence Most Brands Skip
It costs nothing to file, it takes about a month, and it turns the largest export machine in the world into a filter that works for you instead of against you.
Do You Need a Chinese-Character Version of Your Brand? Usually, Yes.
Chinese consumers will give your brand a Chinese name whether you like it or not. The only question is whether you own the name they pick, or someone else does.
Not sure where your brand stands in China?
Send us your mark and the classes you care about. We run a free CNIPA availability check and come back within 48 hours with a risk rating, the closest citations, and a fixed fee.