China Officially Releases the Trademark Law (Draft for Revision) for Public Comment
On December 27, 2025, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China officially released the “Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China (Draft for Revision)” for public comment. This revision marks the fifth modification since the implementation of China’s Trademark Law in 1983, and it deeply reconstructs the system in terms of bad-faith registration, procedural efficiency, and the exercise of rights. Although the draft revision deleted the previously controversial proposals such as the “mandatory five-year use statement” and the “mandatory transfer of bad-faith registrations,” its core policy objectives of curbing bad-faith applications, strengthening use obligations, and improving procedural efficiency have not changed.
Addressing the long-standing market issue of bad-faith registration, this draft revision introduces a multi-dimensional governance mechanism. Article 18 of the draft revision explicitly stipulates that trademark applications that are “not for the purpose of use and clearly exceed normal production and business needs” shall not be registered, providing a direct basis for determining whether defensive registrations constitute “bad-faith hoarding” of trademarks. The supporting Article 53 introduces administrative penalties, whereby applicants who maliciously violate Article 18 and cause negative impacts may be fined up to 100,000 RMB. To further combat the abuse of litigation rights and balance the boundary between rights protection and rights abuse, Article 78 of the draft revision adds that the People’s Courts may legally punish maliciously initiated trademark lawsuits and that the party shall bear civil liability for damages caused to the opposing party. For example, if an enterprise maliciously preemptively registers another’s trademark and then sues the original owner for infringement, this act of malicious litigation will not only face court punishment but also require compensation for the other party’s economic losses.
Regarding substantive rights protection, Article 20 of the draft revision makes major adjustments to the protection of well-known trademarks, removing the “already registered in China” prerequisite and achieving comprehensive coverage for cross-class protection of well-known trademarks to effectively combat cross-class imitation of famous brands. Furthermore, to adapt to the needs of the digital era, Article 14 of the draft revision explicitly includes “motion marks” within the scope of registrable signs. For instance, new types of brand signs such as dynamic logos on short video platforms or animated signs in brand promotion are expected to obtain legal protection, addressing the needs for diversified brand presentation forms in the digital economy era.
In terms of procedural efficiency and protection mechanisms, the draft revision also makes significant adjustments. To accelerate the trademark registration process, the opposition period for preliminary examination has been shortened from 3 months to 2 months, requiring brand owners to implement more rigorous monitoring strategies. At the same time, the draft revision strengthens the suspension rules in the administrative procedure. Article 40 stipulates that if the determination of prior rights must be based on the outcome of another case currently being heard by a People’s Court or handled by an administrative organ, the administrative procedure “generally shall be suspended” rather than “may be suspended.” The procedure will resume only after the cause of the suspension is eliminated.
Regarding legal liability and the damage calculation, Article 74 of the draft revision clarifies that “for intentional infringement of the exclusive right to use a trademark, where the circumstances are serious, the amount of damages may be determined between one and five times the amount determined according to the loss of the right holder, the gain of the infringer, or the multiple of the license fee,” while separately including “reasonable expenses paid by the right holder to stop the infringing act.” This provision restores the right holder’s right to choose between actual losses or infringement profits for damages, providing a more favorable damage calculation system.
In terms of regulating trademark use and clarifying responsibilities, Article 56 of the draft revision stipulates that “if a registered trademark becomes a generic name of the goods which it is approved for use or has not been used for three consecutive years without a justifiable reason, the trademark administrative department under the State Council may revoke the registered trademark.” This modification grants administrative organs the power of proactive revocation to promote a use-oriented trademark system, prevent the idling and waste of trademark resources, and free up more room for trademark registrations by legitimate brands. Articles 66 and 67 of the draft revision refine the circumstances of violations for trademark agencies and practitioners. Agencies that assist in bad-faith registration, accept engagements with conflicts of interest, or forge legal documents may be fined up to 200,000 RMB, and in serious cases, the acceptance of trademark agency business may be suspended. Practitioners who accept engagements independently or practice in multiple agencies simultaneously may be fined up to 100,000 RMB. These measures aim to improve the integrity of the trademark agency sector and regulate industry order through clear penalty standards.
This draft revision is currently open for public comment until February 10, 2026. General public and practitioners can log on the People’s Congress’ website (www.npc.gov.cn ) or the National Laws and Regulations Database (flk.npc.gov.cn) to submit comments or may mail feedback to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Based on legislative practice and the current stage of review, the revised Trademark Law is expected to be enacted within 2026, likely in the first half of the year, with only minor adjustments anticipated at this point.
