Governed by the 2019 Revised Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China (Articles
4, 13, 44) and supervised by the Trademark Office under the China National Intellectual
Property Administration (CNIPA), China implements a first-to-file trademark system
with robust anti-squatting mechanisms and differentiated protection standards for well-known
trademarks. Two core high-risk compliance issues repeatedly harm cross-border brands
expanding into China: malicious bad-faith trademark squatting without genuine use intent
and insufficient preparation of evidentiary materials for well-known trademark cross-category
protection. Many foreign consumer goods, fashion and electronics enterprises lose preliminary
examination, opposition and invalidation cases due to inadequate anti-squatting evidence
and incomplete well-known trademark proof, resulting in long-term brand monopoly losses
and costly administrative litigation. This case analyzes a cross-border European luxury
brand’s failed invalidation lawsuit against a squatted mark, unpacks CNIPA’s examination
criteria for bad faith registration and well-known trademark recognition, and delivers
systematic compliance strategies for global brands to preempt and resolve squatting disputes
in China.
A European luxury leather goods brand with decades of global market operation launched
formal market layout in China in 2024 and discovered a Chinese individual had filed an identical
word-and-logo trademark covering Class 18 leather bags, wallets and suitcases two years
earlier. The squatter submitted no actual production, sales or promotional evidence, solely
registering the mark to resell it at a high premium. The foreign brand filed an application for
trademark invalidation with the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB), claiming two
legal grounds: the registrant conducted bad-faith squatting violating Article 4 of the
Trademark Law, and the brand constituted an unregistered well-known trademark entitled
to cross-class confusion protection under Article 13.
The foreign enterprise made two fatal evidentiary defects during submission. First, it only
provided fragmented overseas sales data and foreign media publicity materials without
official Chinese notarization, consular authentication or Simplified Chinese certified translations,
which CNIPA deemed inadmissible evidence. Second, the brand failed to submit continuous
domestic China operation records, e-commerce promotion screenshots, offline store invoices
and consumer recognition survey reports, lacking core proof to prove the mark had reached
well-known status among relevant Chinese public before the squatter’s filing date.
TRAB issued a decision dismissing all invalidation grounds in late 2025. The tribunal ruled the
foreign brand could not fully prove prior domestic fame to trigger well-known trademark
protection, and incomplete authenticated overseas materials failed to establish the registrant’s
obvious malicious squatting intent. The European brand was forced to negotiate a high-priced
trademark transfer with the squatter, delaying its full-channel Chinese market launch by more than
18 months and incurring hundreds of thousands of euros in administrative review and negotiation
costs.
First, Article 4 prohibits trademark applications filed without genuine intention of commercial
use, the core legal weapon against squatting. CNIPA and TRAB adopt a multi-factor test to identify
bad faith squatting: the registrant holds dozens of identical/similar marks targeting famous domestic
and foreign brands; no supporting evidence of production, sales or market promotion after
registration; clear evidence of offering the mark for resale at a markup; obvious copying of prior
famous brand names, logos and unique design features. Pure overseas brand reputation without
domestic Chinese market penetration cannot independently prove the squatter’s subjective malice;
localized Chinese market circulation evidence is mandatory to win anti-squatting invalidation cases.
All foreign commercial evidence must complete consular authentication and certified Simplified
Chinese translation to meet evidentiary admissibility standards.
Second, well-known trademarks follow the passive, case-by-case recognition principle with tiered
cross-class protection (Article 13 of Trademark Law). Unregistered well-known trademarks only obtain
protection against confusion on identical/similar goods; registered well-known trademarks enjoy
extended cross-category protection covering dissimilar goods if the copycat mark misleads the public
and damages the famous brand’s interests. Five statutory mandatory factors must be fully
evidenced for well-known recognition: nationwide consumer awareness in China, continuous
domestic use duration, coverage and intensity of Chinese-language advertising, prior domestic
well-known trademark protection records, and other factual proof of market reputation. Overseas
sales and publicity materials alone cannot satisfy the recognition standard without corresponding
localized Chinese market operation documents. It is illegal to print the phrase “well-known
trademark” on products, packaging or advertising for commercial promotion purposes.
Third, complete three-tier administrative remedy procedures exist for trademark squatting disputes.
Stage 1: File opposition within 30 days after the trademark preliminary announcement to block
registration at an early stage, with lower evidentiary thresholds and shorter review cycles. Stage 2: File
invalidation application within five years of trademark registration if the squat mark has been
granted; once the five-year limitation expires, ordinary bad-faith squatting grounds can no longer be
invoked to cancel the mark. Stage 3: File administrative litigation with the people’s court within
30 days if dissatisfied with TRAB’s invalidation decision. Foreign applicants must entrust a legally
established CNIPA-licensed domestic trademark agency to handle all opposition, invalidation and
litigation procedures; overseas entities cannot independently submit trademark dispute materials
directly to CNIPA.
Fourth, strict Simplified Chinese documentary rules apply to all dispute evidentiary submissions.
Every foreign sales contract, overseas media report, foreign audit financial statement and brand honor
certificate must attach two formal documents: consular authentication issued by the Chinese embassy/
consulate in the origin country, and a notarized Simplified Chinese translation completed by a
qualified Chinese translation institution. Machine-translated unnotarized foreign language materials
will be directly excluded without substantive review. All domestic Chinese evidence such as e-commerce
background data, store invoices and social media promotion records must retain original official
stamped documents or verifiable platform electronic screenshots with timestamp verification.
Fifth, proactive pre-filing trademark clearance constitutes the most cost-effective anti-squatting
measure. CNIPA’s official public trademark database supports free pre-filing searches for identical,
similar and phonetic conflicting marks across all Nice classes. Global brands shall complete
multi-class defensive trademark filings covering core products, peripheral consumer goods and
cross-industry derivative categories before formally entering the Chinese market, closing registration
loopholes for squatters in advance.
The complete anti-squatting and well-known trademark protection system under the 2019 China
Trademark Law Articles 4 and 13 provides powerful legal tools for foreign brands to safeguard their
market identity in China. However, the strict evidentiary admissibility rules for foreign materials,
five-year invalidation time bar and localized well-known recognition evidence requirements create
irreversible brand losses for enterprises lacking forward-looking layout. This European luxury leather
goods squatting invalidation case fully demonstrates that delayed pre-filing defensive registration,
unauthenticated overseas evidence and insufficient domestic market reputation materials will
lead to failure in anti-squatting administrative procedures, forcing costly trademark buyout negotiations
and prolonged market delay. For overseas fashion, luxury, electronics and FMCG brands planning
Chinese market expansion, advance multi-class defensive trademark filing, standardized consular
authentication and Chinese translation of global brand evidence, long-term retention of domestic localize
d operation proof, and timely utilization of the three-tier administrative remedy channel are mandatory
safeguards to combat bad-faith trademark squatting and obtain full cross-class well-known trademark
protection under Chinese trademark regulations.
Hyperlink List：
● IPcrossark:
IPcrossark—Reliable IP Registration Platform | Trademark, Patent & Copyright Help
● CNIPA Official English Portal for Foreign Applicants Trademark Dispute Guidelines:
