China’s new Trade Marks Law takes effect on 1 January 2027. It is the fifth revision of the statute, and the most comprehensive overhaul since it was first enacted in 1983. International brand owners have just over four months to get ready for this approaching change.

Five practical changes stand out.

1. Motion marks are joining the register

For the first time, China will accept applications for motion marks, meaning short animated sequences such as app boot animations, film-studio idents and the moving visual identities used by an increasing number of consumer brands. Registration remains barred where the movement is dictated purely by the nature of the goods, is necessary to achieve a technical result, or gives the goods substantial value. Brands moving away from static logos now have a filing option in one of the world’s most active trade mark jurisdictions.

2. The opposition window is shrinking from three months to two

Once a mark is published after preliminary examination, prior-right holders currently have three months to oppose. From 1 January 2027 that drops to two months. In a jurisdiction that registers over four million marks a year, a lost month is not a small thing. Now is the moment to review watch-service reporting frequency and internal opposition sign-off timelines.

3. CNIPA takes a firmer line on non-use, and can act on its own initiative

Three-year non-use cancellation is not new, but the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) will now be able to launch cancellations ex officio, without waiting for a third-party applicant. It sits within a wider policy shift throughout the new Law from formal registration to genuine use, including an express recognition that use through the internet counts as trade mark use. Now is a sensible time to audit Chinese portfolios and refresh evidence of use, online and offline.

4. Stronger protection for well-known marks, including unregistered ones

Unregistered well-known marks will now be protected against use on dissimilar goods where use of a later mark would mislead the public and prejudice the well-known mark’s owner. That is a meaningful development for foreign brands with a genuine reputation in China but no local registration. Well-known status remains hard-won and evidence-heavy, but the new framework gives right holders a stronger lever in opposition, invalidation and infringement proceedings.

5. Bad-faith filings now carry administrative penalties

Trade mark squatting has long been a fact of life for foreign brands in China. Under the new Law, an applicant who files in bad faith and causes adverse effects can be issued a warning and fined up to CNY 100,000 (approx. £11,000). That covers filings without genuine intent to use and clearly beyond legitimate business needs, filings that intentionally infringe prior rights, and filings that knowingly breach the Law’s prohibitive provisions. Opposition, invalidation and non-use cancellation will still be the primary tools available to right holders, but the new administrative regime is a useful additional lever against persistent and serial squatters.

What to do now

Before the new Law takes effect on 1 January 2027, international brand owners should:

• Audit Chinese portfolios, identifying unused marks, defensive filings and marks approaching the three-year use threshold.
• Refresh evidence of use, including marketing materials, invoices, online use and platform listings.
• Review watch and opposition arrangements against the new two-month deadline.
• Consider filing strategies for dynamic branding elements that were previously unregistrable in China.