Registration and Protectionof Trademarks in China 2023
Trademark registration in China adopts a first-to-file principle, that is, "first come, first served". Meanwhile, under certain conditions, some level of protection is given to earlier-used trademarks. For instance, a trademark that has been used earlier and has produced certain influence in the market and an unregistered trademark that constitutes a well-known trademark can be used as a ground for an opposition or invalidation, a trademark owner can prevent his/her representative or agent from squatting his/her trademark, and a right holder of an earlier-used trademark can prevent trademark squatting of other parties on the grounds of contracts, business dealings or other relationships.