How to use this guide
Start with our China filing document guide for the ordinary requirements, full translations and case-specific authentication checks. This page focuses on examples of registration documents from different jurisdictions. The examples are not a mandatory country-by-country certification list.
Examples of documents to send for review
These are starting documents, not a country-by-country statutory checklist or a promise that every registry document is sufficient. Supply the document actually issued for your legal entity and any relevant name changes.
| Jurisdiction | Examples of starting documents |
|---|---|
| United States | State registration or incorporation/organisation document; recent registry status material if relevant |
| United Kingdom | Certificate of incorporation and any name-change certificate; a current Companies House record may help verify details |
| Hong Kong | Certificate of incorporation or business registration document as applicable, with any relevant name changes |
| Germany | Commercial register extract (Handelsregisterauszug) |
| France | Relevant business-register extract, such as a Kbis where applicable |
| Spain | Commercial registry document appropriate to the entity |
| Japan | Appropriate company registry certificate |
| Singapore | ACRA business profile or relevant registration document |
| Australia | ASIC registration document or company extract |
| Canada | Federal or provincial registration document appropriate to the entity |
| Russia | Relevant legal-entity register extract or registration document |
| Other jurisdictions | Official registration or identity document; send it for review before ordering additional certifications |
Frequently asked questions
Does a country listed in the Apostille Convention automatically need an apostille for a China trademark?
No. Membership answers how an authentication requirement may be fulfilled when the Convention applies. It does not decide whether an ordinary China trademark document needs authentication in the first place.
Does an incorporation certificate without an expiry date automatically fail?
No. Review the actual document, applicant's identity, later changes and any applicable request. A supplementary current-status record may be useful or required in a particular file; there is no universal rule derived solely from the absence of an expiry date.
Is a foreign power of attorney subject to the expiry rule used by that country's trademark office?
Not automatically. This is a filing in China. Check the authorisation itself and the Chinese proceeding's applicable requirements rather than importing an unrelated domestic-office rule.
What if CNIPA requests more documents?
Send the notice promptly, including its service record. We assess the specific request and deadline before telling you what to obtain.
Official treaty reference
Use the HCCH Apostille Convention status table for current entry-into-force dates, objections and declarations. Do not rely on an earlier article's nationality list as proof of the relationship between two jurisdictions today.
Related reading
- What to send and what to notarise
- Documents beyond the major markets
- Translating corporate documents