Other BriefingsChina Strengthens Trademark Enforcement: What the 2026 Amendment Means for Businesses
The new China trademark law amendment introduces sweeping changes to trademark enforcement, targeting malicious registration, agency misconduct, and deceptive trademark use. Taking effect on January 1, 2027, the amendment strengthens legal protections for rights holders while expanding compliance obligations for businesses operating in China.
Trademark protection and enforcement have been a persistent challenge for foreign businesses in China, with perennial challenges ranging from infringement to bad-faith registrations to hoarding and deceptive trademark use. A new amendment to China’s Trademark Law, passed on June 26, 2026 and set to take effect on January 1, 2027, seeks to address many of these longstanding issues through changes to enforcement and penalty provisions.
The amendment introduces stricter rules and higher penalties targeting malicious trademark registration and agency misconduct, expands the scope of both registrable and prohibited marks, and makes several procedural changes that will affect how trademarks are opposed, renewed, and enforced.
For businesses operating in or trading with China, the changes represent both an opportunity and a compliance challenge, as stronger legal provisions provide additional tools for protecting legitimate trademarks, but also add to obligations and compliance risks that will require monitoring and action ahead of the January 2027 implementation date.
Some of the key changes to the Trademark Law are:
- Public right to report trademark violations
- Addition of new trademark types and prohibited marks
- Crackdown on malicious trademark registration
- Higher penalties and enforcement scope for trademark agencies
- Penalties for malicious trademark lawsuits
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Key Changes in the 2026 Trademark Law Amendment |
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| Change | Provision | Business impact | Recommended actions |
| Public right to report trademark violations | Article 70 | Creates a new avenue for third parties to trigger investigations into trademark misuse, while also providing businesses with an additional channel for raising infringement disputes. | Strengthen internal compliance and oversight of marketing and labeling to ensure trademarks are not used in a misleading manner. |
| “Motion signs” now registrable as trademark | Article 14 | Provides legal basis for registering motion-based marks, opening up new options for brand protection strategies. | Consider registering motion-based branding elements as trademarks in China. |
| New prohibitions on marks and elements related to the state’s political and historical events and achievements | Article 15.1 | Political, cultural, and historical knowledge and sensitivity required during trademark research and selection. | Conduct thorough clearance checks before trademark registration to ensure compliance with new requirements. |
| Crackdown on malicious trademark registration, including increased penalties | Articles 19, 54 | Stronger legal grounds for opposing or invalidating bad-faith trademark registrations. | Review current trademark registration objections to assess applicability of new provisions. |
| Higher penalties and enforcement scope for trademark agencies | Articles 67, 68 | Gives rights holders stronger legal standing when pursuing infringement or bad-faith registration claims involving agencies. | Review active trademark disputes involving agencies to assess applicability of new provisions. |
| Penalties for malicious trademark lawsuits | Article 81 | Deters bad-faith litigation tactics. | Review active lawsuits to assess whether the opposing party’s claims appear to be grounded in fabricated or distorted facts. |
Public right to report trademark violations
The amended law introduces a new provision explicitly granting any entity or individual the right to file a complaint or report an illegal use of a trademark with trademark administration and enforcement authorities. These illegal acts can include both the misleading use of registered trademarks and infringement of exclusive trademark rights.
The provision responds to a growing problem of deceptive trademark use in China, where marks are deliberately constructed or used in ways that mislead consumers about the nature, quality, or characteristics of goods and services. By formalizing the right to report such violations, the law mobilizes the public as an additional layer of oversight for trademark infringement, but also exposes businesses to a significantly wider range of potential complainants and regulatory headaches.
What are the business implications? What should businesses do?
New trademark types and prohibited marks
The amended law expands the scope of registrable marks to include “motion signs” for the first time, meaning marks such as animated logos or moving images are now explicitly permitted as registered trademarks under the law. This brings the law in line with current commercial practices and international norms.
Meanwhile, a new provision bars the registration and use of signs that are identical or similar to the name, party flag, party emblem, or medals of the Communist Party of China, and crucially, symbolic elements associated with its major theoretical achievements or historical events. While this is similar to the existing prohibition on signs identical or similar to state symbols, it expands upon this by introducing broader and more subjective criteria that will require a higher level of historical, political, and cultural knowledge and sensitivity to navigate.
What are the business implications? What should businesses do?
Crackdown on malicious trademark registration
The amended law seeks to curb malicious trademark registration by explicitly prohibiting the registration of trademarks that are not intended for use and greatly expanding penalties for malicious registration of trademarks.
A new provision stipulates that trademark applications that are not intended for use and clearly exceed the needs of normal production and operation cannot be registered. Entities that violate this provision can be fined up to RMB 100,000 (US$14,718) and issued a warning.
This penalty can also be imposed on entities or individuals that engage in any of the following behaviors:
| Scenario | Description |
|---|---|
| Prohibited Marks | Knowingly applying for trademark registration of a mark that is prohibited under the Trademark Law, or that contains prohibited elements. |
| Bad-Faith Filing Involving a Well-Known Mark | Intentionally applying to register a mark that constitutes a reproduction, imitation, or translation of another party’s well-known trademark that is not registered in China, where the mark is used on identical or similar goods and is likely to cause confusion, or on dissimilar goods where it is likely to damage the interests of the rights holder. |
| Registration by Agent or Representative (Article 21) | Intentionally applying to register a trademark belonging to a principal or represented party in the name of the agent or representative, where the principal or represented party objects to the registration. |
| Prior Unregistered Trademark Known to Applicant (Article 22) | Intentionally applying to register a mark that is identical or similar to a prior unregistered trademark used by another party on the same or similar goods, where the applicant has a contractual, business, or other relationship with that party, is aware of the trademark’s existence, and the other party files an objection. |
| Misleading Geographical Indications (Article 23) | Intentionally applying to register a mark containing a geographical indication for goods that do not originate from the indicated region, thereby misleading the public, except where the registration was previously obtained in good faith. |
The changes seek to address the well-known problem of trademark hoarding in China, particularly instances in which popular or trending names are registered as trademarks without a legitimate business need or genuine intent to use them commercially. It also tackles the issue of bad-faith registration of marks that are identical or similar to existing trademarks for the same or similar goods.
What are the business implications? What should businesses do?
Higher penalties and enforcement scope for trademark agencies
The new amendment cracks down on illegal activities by trademark agencies by imposing higher institutional and individual penalties for serious violations of the Trademark Law. It also expands the scope of behavior that can be penalized.
This means penalties of up to RMB 200,000 (US$29,437) in serious cases can be given to agencies that accept commissions from two parties with conflicts of interest in the same trademark case, accept commissions for the registration of trademarks that are prohibited under the Trademark Law, apply for trademarks outside of their scope of services, and engage in malicious trademark registration.
It also adds a new provision penalizing individual trademark agents who engage in illegal activity such as accepting commissions to handle trademark agency matters on their own, while simultaneously engaging in trademark business activities at two or more agencies.
The change seeks to impose greater regulatory order on an underregulated market, in particular on situations in which trademark agencies participate in and assist with illegal activities such as malicious trademark registration and trademark hoarding for resale.
What are the business implications? What should businesses do?
Penalties for malicious trademark lawsuits
A new provision stipulates that parties who initiate trademark lawsuits through malicious collusion or unilateral fabrication of facts may be punished by the People’s Court and will be liable for any losses caused to the other party as a result.
What are the business implications? What should businesses do?
How Dezan Shira & Associates can help
With China’s Trademark Law set to undergo a number of significant changes, businesses should seek guidance from experienced local professionals to assess the impact of the new provisions on their existing trademark portfolios and protection strategies.
Dezan Shira & Associates can provide practical, China-specific advice on portfolio audits, compliance with updated registration requirements, agent due diligence, and overall brand protection strategy under the amended law. To arrange a consultation, please contact our experts at china@dezshira.com.
With over three decades of experience, Dezan Shira and Associates is a leading intellectual property service provider in China and broader Asia, offering a deep understanding of IP registration, trademark protection, and market entry consulting. Our dedicated advisors help businesses manage IP risk services, safeguard innovations, and maximize the value of their intangible assets.
About Us
China Briefing is one of five regional Asia Briefing publications. It is supported by Dezan Shira & Associates, a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm that assists foreign investors throughout Asia, including through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong in China. Dezan Shira & Associates also maintains offices or has alliance partners assisting foreign investors in Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Dubai (UAE), Japan, South Korea, Nepal, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Italy, Germany, Bangladesh, Australia, United States, and United Kingdom and Ireland.
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