Register Your Trademark in China Before You File on Alibaba

China grants trademark rights to the first applicant, not the first user. If you manufacture in China, sell through Alibaba's marketplaces or plan to, a Chinese registration is often the document that decides whether you can act against copies at all. Without it, someone else can register your brand first and use it against you.

This guide explains why Chinese registration matters, how trademark squatting works, the two filing routes for foreign brands (CNIPA through a local agent, or the Madrid Protocol), how China's subclasses change the way you draft your list of goods, and what official fees and timelines to expect. It is general information, not legal advice: use a qualified trademark professional for your own filing.

Why a Chinese trademark matters

Trademarks are territorial. A registration in the US or the EU protects you there, not in China. This matters in three concrete ways for brands that sell online.

• Marketplace complaints. On Taobao, Tmall and 1688, the Taobao and Tmall Group IPP only lets you select trademarks registered in mainland China for a trademark complaint. The Alibaba International IPP, which handles AliExpress and Alibaba.com, accepts rights from other countries, but they must be valid where the listing is offered. Our guide to reporting counterfeits on Alibaba and AliExpress covers both platforms.
• Factories and exports. Copies of many consumer products are made in China. A Chinese right is what local enforcement relies on when goods are produced or shipped from there.
• Blocking risk. If a third party owns your mark in China, it can file marketplace complaints against your own listings or challenge your use of the brand in China.

First-to-file and trademark squatting

In a first-to-file system, the owner is generally whoever files first for the relevant goods. Trademark squatting is the practice of registering someone else's brand, often a foreign brand not yet filed in China, to sell it back, to block the brand or to trade under it.

China's Trademark Law, in its 2019 version currently in force, gives some tools against this. It says bad-faith applications not intended for use shall be rejected, and it protects prior rights and prior-used marks that already have a certain influence. In practice, these tools require an opposition or invalidation case with evidence, and they cost far more than filing early.

Two ways to file as a foreign brand

	Direct filing with CNIPA	Madrid Protocol designation
How	A Chinese trademark agency files with the China National Intellectual Property Administration	Your home trademark office forwards an international application to WIPO designating China
Who handles it	A licensed Chinese agency (mandatory without a business domicile in China)	Your home office and WIPO; a Chinese agency is needed for later matters, such as answering a refusal
Basis	Stands alone	Depends on a home application or registration
Goods list	Drafted directly with Chinese subclass items	Your international list, which CNIPA examines against its own practice
Fees	CNIPA official fee plus agency fee	WIPO fees plus China's individual fee, paid in two parts
Examination time	Nine months under the Trademark Law	CNIPA can issue a refusal within 18 months, under China's declaration

Direct filing. CNIPA says a foreign company without a business domicile in China must entrust a legally established trademark agency, and that a wholly owned branch, local office or representative office does not count as a domicile. CNIPA publishes a list of approved agencies on its online portal. Foreign individuals with habitual residence in China can file themselves.

Madrid Protocol. If your country is a Madrid member, you can add China to an international application filed through your home office. It is convenient when you file in several countries at once. The trade-off is that your list of goods is written for many offices, not for Chinese subclass practice.

Classes and subclasses

China uses the Nice Classification of 45 classes, but CNIPA also divides each class into subclasses, shown as four-digit codes. For example, class 25 is split into groups such as clothing, children's clothing and footwear. Goods in the same subclass are in principle treated as similar, and goods in different subclasses as dissimilar, even inside the same class.

The practical consequence: a registration covering only some items in a class can leave gaps that a squatter can fill in another subclass. When you draft the list, cover each subclass where you sell or plan to sell. Many brands also consider registering a Chinese-character version of the name, because Chinese marketplaces and buyers often use one. A local agent can advise on transliteration and on which items to include.

Official fees and timelines

Fee guides published by Chinese IP firms give the following CNIPA official fees. Check CNIPA's current schedule before you file, and add your agency's fees.

Item	Online filing	Paper filing
Application, one class, up to 10 items	CNY 270	CNY 300
Each item beyond 10 in the same class	CNY 27	CNY 30

For a Madrid designation, fees are paid to WIPO in Swiss francs; WIPO's fee calculator gives the current amount for China.

On timing, the Trademark Law gives CNIPA nine months from receipt to complete examination. An approved mark is then published for a three-month opposition period. Chinese IP firms estimate about a year from filing to registration when there are no objections. A registration lasts ten years and can be renewed.

Practical steps before you sell on Alibaba's marketplaces

1. Search first. Ask an agent to search CNIPA's records for your brand, your logo and likely Chinese versions of the name.
2. Choose the route. Direct filing if China is a priority market or you want a list tailored to subclasses; Madrid if you are filing in many countries and have a home application.
3. Draft the list by subclass. Cover the goods you make and sell, and the neighboring subclasses where copies are likely.
4. File early. Before you show products to factories, trade fairs or marketplaces in China.
5. Watch for conflicts. Oppose conflicting marks during their publication period, which is usually simpler than invalidating them after registration.
6. Verify the right on the platforms. Once registered, add the certificate to the IPP account you use, so it is ready when you need to file a complaint.

Where marketplace monitoring fits

A registration gives you the right to complain; it does not find the listings. Copies of a product often appear on Alibaba.com, AliExpress and 1688 before they reach retail marketplaces elsewhere, and some sellers remove the brand name from the title to avoid keyword searches. Our article on whether Alibaba sells fake products explains how copies reach these platforms, and our guide to what a trademark costs covers registration budgets in other countries.

How Valigard helps

Valigard does not file trademarks or monitor trademark office filings, so it will not alert you to a squatter's application at CNIPA. What it does is search marketplaces worldwide, including Alibaba.com and AliExpress, with your official product photos, so it finds listings that reuse them even when your brand name is missing.

For each listing you mark as likely counterfeit, Valigard keeps the URL, a saved and timestamped copy of the page, the price and the seller's details, and it tracks whether the listing was removed or relisted. When your Chinese registration is in place, that evidence is ready to use in an IPP complaint, which you file yourself.