Brand Wars in China: A 2025 Guide to Navigating Trademark Protection and Enforcement

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

For international brands eyeing or already entrenched in the Chinese market, intellectual property protection, particularly trademarks, remains a paramount concern. China’s dynamic landscape, uniquely structured around a strict “first-to-file” trademark system, presents both significant opportunities and persistent challenges. Unlike many jurisdictions where prior use may establish rights, in China, the entity that first files for trademark registration is generally granted exclusive rights, regardless of prior commercial use or brand reputation elsewhere. This comprehensive guide outlines the critical threat vectors and provides a robust framework for mitigation, ensuring your brand’s longevity and success in 2025 and beyond.

1. Threat Vector Analysis

Trademark squatting, counterfeiting, and widespread infringement represent primary threats to international brands in China. Due to China’s strict “first-to-file” trademark system, third parties often register trademarks in bad faith to block market entry or coerce brand owners into repurchasing rights at inflated prices. These issues can block market access, force costly legal battles, and inflict significant financial, reputational, legal, and operational damage. Counterfeiting remains pervasive, exploiting unprotected or weakly enforced marks to flood the market with counterfeit goods, tarnishing brand reputation and eroding sales.

Delays in comprehensive registration—including core brand, Mandarin characters, phonetic transliterations, and all relevant Nice classes—can exacerbate these risks, allowing squatting and infringement to occur unchecked during the lengthy registration process. This dynamic demands a proactive, strategic approach to trademark protection.

2. The Regulatory and Enforcement Landscape

China’s IP environment is continuously evolving, with 2025 bringing significant shifts aimed at strengthening protection and deterring malicious activities. Trademark rules are integrated within a broader regulatory landscape that includes the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, E-commerce Law, Consumer Protection Law, and complementary copyright and design patent regimes. This holistic framework allows for multi-pronged strategies against infringers, leveraging a multi-layered enforcement architecture integrating administrative, judicial, and customs authorities.

Government Priorities and Policy Shifts (2025)

The 2025 CNIPA Work Plan and the “IP Nation Building Promotion Plan” underscore China’s commitment to cracking down on abnormal (bad-faith) applications and malicious registrations. Key revisions and policy shifts include:

• Stricter Scrutiny: A new three-step preliminary examination process for bad-faith filings, alongside intensified actions against malicious filings and trademark squatting, with expedited remedies against bad-faith registrants.
• Non-Use Cancellation: Efficient new procedural protections and higher evidentiary standards for non-use cancellations, aimed at deterring “harassment” claims against legitimate rights holders.
• Punitive Damages: Courts are increasingly awarding higher damages, including landmark decisions featuring fivefold punitive damages for egregious infringement.
• Streamlined Customs Recordal: The General Administration of Customs has digitized and streamlined its recordal process, enabling more efficient border seizures for both imports and exports, safeguarding supply chains and brand integrity directly.

Key Enforcement Avenues

Brands have a comprehensive suite of enforcement mechanisms at their disposal, requiring active engagement with multiple enforcement agencies:

• Administrative Actions: Filing complaints with local IP bureaus or the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) can initiate raids, confiscation, and penalties against counterfeiters. CNIPA also governs trademark registration, opposition, and invalidation.
• Judicial Litigation: Pursuing civil litigation in specialized IP courts or People’s Courts to seek injunctions, damages, and recognition of “well-known marks” for enhanced protection. Courts increasingly collaborate with enforcement bodies to reinforce intellectual property rights.
• eCommerce Takedowns: Leveraging the IP protection programs of major platforms like Alibaba, Taobao, JD.com, and WeChat for swift removal of infringing listings. These platforms are legally required to cooperate in removing infringing listings.
• Criminal Action: Engaging police for criminal investigations and prosecutions in cases of serious, egregious counterfeiting.

Judicial Practice Trends

Recent judicial practice demonstrates a growing willingness to:

• Recognize foreign marks as “well-known,” granting them an extra scope of protection.
• Combine trademark and design patent claims for broader coverage.
• “Pierce the corporate veil” to hold controlling persons of infringing companies personally liable.

3. The Mitigation Framework: Practical Compliance Action Plan

Protecting your brand in China requires a proactive, multi-faceted, and governance-driven strategy. To successfully defend trademarks within China’s complex first-to-file environment, international brands should adopt the following framework:

Pillar 1: Governance, Oversight & Proactive Registration

• File Early and Broadly: Secure all relevant trademarks, including the core brand, Mandarin characters, phonetic variations, and all applicable Nice classes, well before or concurrent with market entry. This is your primary defense against trademark squatting.
• Actively Use Marks in Commerce: Collect and maintain robust evidence of genuine commercial use for each three-year period. This documentation is crucial to defend against non-use cancellations, especially under the new 2025 rules.
• Incorporate Trademark Strategy into Executive Risk Reviews: Senior leadership must own oversight to allocate budgets and coordinate local counsel effectively.

Pillar 2: Risk Assessment & Vigilant Monitoring

• Monitor for Infringements: Implement regular monitoring of Chinese trademark filings, key marketplaces, and social media platforms to detect potential infringements swiftly.
• Implement Continuous Monitoring: Regularly monitor trademark office publications to detect oppositions, suspicious filings, and potential bad-faith registrations.
• Conduct Periodic Portfolio Audits: Identify gaps, inconsistencies, or unregistered but commercially valuable marks.

Pillar 3: Policies & Controls & Multi-Channel Enforcement

• Utilize Customs Recordals: Register all your trademarks with Chinese customs immediately after registration, ensuring details are regularly updated. This is vital for effective border seizures of infringing goods.
• Deploy Digital Takedowns: Proactively leverage the IP protection programs offered by major eCommerce platforms (e.g., Alibaba, Taobao, JD.com, WeChat) to achieve swift removal of infringing online listings. Develop protocols with these platforms for active listing monitoring and rapid takedown enforcement.
• Execute Administrative Actions: File complaints with local IP bureaus or the CNIPA to initiate raids, confiscation, and penalties against counterfeiters.
• Pursue Judicial and Criminal Avenues: Engage in civil litigation for injunctions and damages, and, in egregious cases, involve the police for criminal investigations and prosecutions.
• Combine Enforcement Channels: Integrate administrative, judicial, and digital strategies for maximum leverage and speed, recognizing that a multi-pronged approach is often the most effective.

Pillar 4: Strategic Local Engagement, Adaptation & Training

• Engage Experienced Counsel: Partner with local IP legal experts who possess deep knowledge of the Chinese system and can help you navigate complex cases, advising on favorable venues and strategies.
• Develop Localized Strategies: Tailor your enforcement approaches to account for specific regional practices and legal nuances across China.
• Understand Pitfalls: Be aware of common mistakes such as partial filings that miss Chinese character or phonetic equivalents, or over-reliance on foreign registrations. Recognize that local administrative practices and court interpretations can vary, necessitating careful selection of partners and venues.
• Train Internal Teams and External Partners: Educate on China’s trademark enforcement procedures and evidentiary requirements.

Pillar 5: Monitoring & Auditing

• Conduct Regular On-the-Ground and Digital Audits: Of marketplaces and supply chains to identify infringement early.
• Prepare and Maintain Robust Evidence Packages: Documenting prior use, bad faith actions, and enforcement outcomes to support oppositions, invalidations, or civil litigation.

Together, these pillars form a resilient defense that aligns with 2025’s enhanced enforcement environment, mitigating legal and commercial risks associated with China’s first-to-file trademark regime.

4. Scenario Analysis: Case Studies

Recent judicial and enforcement trends in China offer illustrative examples of effective IP protection:

Case 1: Brand Squatting Avoided Through Early Registration

An international luxury goods manufacturer proactively registered their trademarks, including Mandarin and phonetic variants, across all relevant classes prior to launching in China. When a local party attempted to register similar marks after the company’s market entry announcement, CNIPA rejected the application under its tightened bad-faith filing standards in 2025. Early strategic filing protected the brand without costly disputes.

Case 2: Administrative Raid and Customs Seizure

A multinational electronics brand detected counterfeit goods bearing its marks circulating online. Coordinating with local counsel, the company initiated an administrative complaint with CNIPA leading to an expedited raid on the counterfeiters’ premises. Simultaneously, recorded trademarks with customs enabled interception of a large shipment at a key port. This coordinated enforcement significantly disrupted the counterfeiter’s supply chain and reinforced market authority.

Case 3: Challenges in Proving Bad Faith Without Early Recordal

A global food brand delayed registering its Chinese transliteration. A third party registered this mark and demanded a ransom. Despite demonstrating prior use and reputation internationally, the brand struggled with the high evidentiary threshold to invalidate the trademark. The protracted dispute resulted in costly litigation and market delay, underscoring the crucial value of early and broad registration aligned with 2025’s enforcement reforms.

By proactively integrating these strategies, international brands can maximize protection and enforcement impact, minimize costly disputes, and build resilient, valuable brand portfolios in China’s evolving market landscape for 2025 and beyond.

Protect your brand’s future in China now. Don’t wait until after a damaging squatting or infringement event. Navigating China’s IP landscape demands deep expertise and a proactive, governance-driven trademark strategy incorporating broad early registration, customs recordal, and continuous enforcement monitoring tailored for China’s evolving 2025 landscape.

Connect with our team of China IP specialists today to develop a customized, actionable plan. Together, we will help safeguard your international brand against China’s first-to-file risks and complex enforcement realities, ensuring your brand can win the 2025 brand wars in China decisively.

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Conclusion

The article outlines a critical framework for protecting international brands in China’s “first-to-file” trademark system, highlighting both inherent risks and the strengthening 2025 enforcement environment. It emphasizes that proactive, multi-faceted registration and vigilant enforcement, integrating administrative, judicial, and digital strategies, are essential to mitigate threats like squatting and counterfeiting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Strategic Guidance

Navigating the complexities of brand protection and enforcement in China requires specialized expertise and strategic foresight. Decisions made today can significantly impact your organization’s compliance posture, operational efficiency, and competitive standing.

To transform this regulatory or strategic challenge into a durable advantage, partner with our advisory team. Contact us to schedule a consultation and learn how we can help you build a resilient and forward-looking strategy.