Your online store could have a registered trademark while the products carrying your brand still lack the registration you thought you had.
That can happen when Class 35 is treated as a catch-all category for selling online.
For a business entering China, the important question is what the application actually covers. Are you protecting a name used on products, a service provided to other businesses, or a platform connecting buyers and sellers?
Those differences should guide your filing decisions before you commit more money to packaging, advertising and a store launch.
No. Selling online does not automatically create a need for a Class 35 registration. Your activities and the specific goods or services requiring protection must be assessed.
Start by describing what your business does in everyday language. “We sell our own clothing” and “we manage advertising campaigns for clothing brands” describe different activities, even if both businesses operate through websites and social media.
For the complete application process, see our China trademark registration guide for foreign applicants.
Class 35 includes commercial services such as advertising, marketing, business management and certain marketplace activities.
The World Intellectual Property Organization’s explanation of Class 35 distinguishes the sale of goods from services for classification purposes. Its broader framework includes activities performed to help other businesses or bring buyers and sellers together.
For a Chinese application, that international framework must be considered alongside local classification practice. A broad description such as “e-commerce” does not explain which particular services your business supplies.
The next step is to separate your activities.
The following distinctions come from CNIPA’s official guidance on Class 35 service marks.
An ordinary producer that only manufactures or sells its own goods, without providing relevant services to others, does not need the corresponding Class 35 registration merely for those activities.
For your filing instructions, identify the actual products, where the brand appears and the versions of the mark you use.
Buying products and earning a resale margin does not, by itself, constitute providing sales promotion services for others.
If you also offer separate advertising, display or promotional work, describe those additional activities clearly. A distribution agreement and a marketing services agreement may tell different stories about your business.
A business running promotional campaigns for clients should assess the relevant Class 35 service items.
For example, explain who commissions the work, what is delivered and which brand identifies your service. This gives your representative something more useful to review than the general label “online business.”
Providing a platform where independent buyers and sellers transact differs from running your own online shop.
CNIPA’s guidance distinguishes the online-marketplace service from ordinary shop operation. The fact that a seller uses a marketplace does not make that seller the marketplace operator.
A service registration should not be assumed to cover the goods in your inventory.
China’s classification guidance explains that the approved goods and services are important to the scope of the registration. Choosing a familiar class number without reviewing the specification can therefore leave a gap between your commercial plans and the application.
Suppose an overseas brand plans to sell jackets and T-shirts through a Chinese online store.
The business should first review protection for the garments themselves. Clothing falls within Class 25 under WIPO’s classification. Any proposed commercial-service filing requires its own explanation.
| Question | Information to provide |
|---|---|
| Which products will carry the mark? | A specific product list, with examples of labels and packaging |
| Which services will the business provide to others? | A description of each activity, its customers and how the service is branded |
This separates the decisions without assuming that every clothing seller needs the same combination of registrations.
It also gives you a useful way to review a quotation: ask what each proposed filing is intended to protect.
Review platform admission requirements separately from the scope of trademark protection.
When someone recommends an application because a platform requires it, ask for the current rule and check:
The platform and store type.
The relevant product category.
Whether the documents concern the store brand, product brand or authorization.
The country or region of the required registration.
The rule’s effective date.
Save the official requirement with your application instructions.
This helps avoid a common communication problem: a statement about one store format being repeated as a requirement for every online seller.
Ask the platform operator and your filing representative to explain their respective requirements in writing. The documents needed to open a store and the registrations appropriate for your business should be considered together.
A practical review begins with information about your business, rather than a list of class numbers.
Prepare a short summary covering:
The products you sell.
Services supplied to other businesses.
Your intended sales channels.
The English name, Chinese name and logo you use.
Any existing applications or registrations.
Include realistic expansion plans. If you expect to add a service later, explain what it will involve and when it may begin.
China uses the Nice Classification together with a local classification table and similar groups, often called “subclasses” in English.
Review the actual items and relevant notes. Do not assume that selecting a class heading gives identical protection across everything listed within that class.
CNIPA’s guidance on understanding goods and services classification explains the role of these categories and groups.
Before approving the application, ask:
Why was each item selected?
Which business activity does it correspond to?
Are any important products or services missing?
What further review is needed if the business changes?
Keep the approved specification with the quotation and filing instructions.
Registration also requires ongoing management.
Under Article 49 of the Trademark Law applicable in October 2026, a registration may face cancellation after three consecutive years of non-use without a justified reason. Describing a filing as defensive does not remove this issue.
For a service registration, retain records that connect the mark with the services actually provided.
These may include agreements, invoices, payment records and dated promotional materials. Review them together so that the service, customer, mark and timing can be understood.
Do not assume that product sales records alone establish use of a registered promotional service.
For a wider explanation of use obligations, earlier rights and enforcement, read our China trademark law guide for cross-border brand operators.
Ask for a filing recommendation that explains your business in specific terms.
For a product brand, the discussion should identify the goods requiring protection. For an agency or platform, it should identify the services being supplied. Where both activities exist, the recommendation should explain each part.
A useful question to ask is:
“What part of my business would this application protect, and what would still need a separate review?”
That answer is more valuable than a general claim that every online seller needs Class 35.
If you are preparing to enter China, contact IPcrossark with your brand name, product list and proposed sales channels to discuss the relevant filing and service options.
CNIPA — Guidance on Class 35 Service Trademark Registration and Use — Chinese PDF explaining the relevant activities and use considerations.
CNIPA — Guidance on Trademark Goods and Services Classification — Chinese PDF explaining classification and similar groups.
WIPO — Nice Classification, Class 35, Version 2026 — English classification and explanatory notes.
WIPO — Nice Classification, Class 25, Version 2026 — English classification for clothing, footwear and headwear.
CNIPA — Trademark Law, Amended in 2019 — including Article 49 on non-use cancellation.
