China Trademark Registration for UK Businesses

Why UK businesses still need a Chinese registration

A UK registration gives you rights inside the United Kingdom only. Trademark rights are territorial, so the mark on the UKIPO register — including the well-known ones that survive on reputation — creates no enforceable rights inside China. Only a Chinese registration does.

On top of that, China is a first-to-file jurisdiction: the registration generally goes to whoever files first with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), regardless of who used the mark first elsewhere. The pattern UK brands run into most often: the brand starts selling into China through a marketplace, a distributor or a Tmall cross-border store, and only then discovers a Chinese company has already filed the name — sometimes the local distributor itself. From that point, every extra month of selling builds value in a brand you may have to buy back. Filing before the first shipment costs a fraction of that.

Foreign applicants cannot file directly — the application must go through a CNIPA-registered agent, which is what we are. You do not need a Chinese company, a Chinese address or a Chinese bank account. Everything on your side stays in English; we prepare the Chinese filing.

Two routes to a China trademark from the United Kingdom

Direct national filing What we handle

We file with the CNIPA on your behalf as your registered agent.

$199 flat per class, including the availability check, drafting, filing and follow-up
Goods and services wording is drafted freely within the Nice class — not locked to another application
No dependency on any other mark: nothing that happens to a home registration can touch it
One point of contact in English for the whole file

Madrid Protocol Possible, with trade-offs

Extend an international registration to China via UKIPO and WIPO.

Requires an existing application or registration at UKIPO for the same mark and goods
For five years the China right depends on the home mark — if it fails, the international registration collapses (central attack)
If the CNIPA issues a provisional refusal, you need a local agent to answer it anyway
Fees go to WIPO plus an individual designation fee, and are harder to predict per country

Both routes end at the same register. Direct filing is usually the simpler choice when China is the priority market; Madrid earns its keep when you are extending one mark across many countries at once. If you are unsure which fits, tell us your markets in the enquiry and we will say so in writing before anything is payable.

Six-month Paris priority from your UKIPO filing

If you have already filed at the UK Intellectual Property Office (or at any other Paris Convention or WTO member office), you can claim priority for the Chinese application: file in China within six months of the first filing, and the Chinese application is treated as if it were filed on the same day as the original.

The priority claim is declared when the Chinese application is filed, and the certified copy of the first filing follows within three months
Priority matters most where a squatter risk is live: it moves your effective filing date back before third-party applications
The claim covers what the first filing covers — goods or classes added later are not covered by it

Mention your UKIPO filing date in the enquiry and we will flag whether priority is worth claiming in your case.

What the $199 fee covers

Availability check before filing We search the CNIPA register for identical and confusingly similar marks in your class, so you are not filing into a known conflict.

Application drafted and filed The application form, the goods or services wording and the mark specimen, prepared in Chinese and submitted in your name.

Up to 10 goods or services items Per class. Additional items are charged at USD 10 each, and each extra class is charged separately.

Follow-up until a decision We track the file through formality examination, publication and substantive examination, and report each stage to you.

Electronic registration certificate Delivered to you once the CNIPA issues it. We also send the official filing receipt and application number as soon as they are available.

English-language handling One point of contact, in English, for the whole file. No need to brief a local translator or chase a Chinese intermediary.

Includes up to 10 items of goods or services per class; additional items USD 10 each. Each additional class is charged separately. The price is all-inclusive — the CNIPA official fee, our professional fee, document preparation and translation are all inside it, and nothing is billed separately.

Documents you need to provide

Six items for a standard UK application, and none of them needs a notary or an apostille. One item is genuinely different from most countries, so it is worth reading: the UK registration document alone is usually not enough, and we ask for a second Companies House filing alongside it.

1

Your UK company registration document We ask for it

Your Certificate of Incorporation from Companies House. This records the fact that the company was incorporated and its original name — useful, but it is a snapshot of the day of incorporation and says nothing about the company today.

2

A current Companies House filing showing the company is still registered UK-specific

Your most recent confirmation statement (the annual filing, form CS01), or a company register extract taken recently. The CNIPA examination guidelines do not list any country-specific documents — they only ask that submitted documents be within their stated validity period, and a certificate of incorporation records one day in history with no validity period at all. In practice this is exactly the kind of file that draws a formality-correction notice and costs weeks, so we ask for the annual filing up front: it is updated every year and shows the company as it stands today. Companies incorporated less than a year ago will not have one yet — send the incorporation documents and tell us the date of incorporation. If the company has changed name or been restored to the register, send the filing that shows the current position.

3

Chinese translation of those documents We do this for you

Required by the CNIPA; an application without it is treated as if the document had never been filed. We prepare the translation and it is inside the $199 — you do not need a certified or sworn translator.

4

Your trade mark name You send us

Just the words to be registered, as they should appear on the certificate. That is all we need — we do not ask you for a Chinese name or a translation of the mark. Separately we will usually recommend also registering a Chinese version of the brand, because that is the form customers in China will speak and search. That is a recommendation, not a filing requirement, and the choice stays with you.

5

Your trade mark image — only if your mark is graphical Only for logos

A plain word mark needs no image at all — we type the words into the application and that becomes the registered mark. A logo, device or combined word-and-artwork mark does need one: a clean black-and-white JPEG or PNG at adequate resolution, since what you send is what gets registered.

6

Signed Power of Attorney You sign

A foreign applicant must file through a Chinese agent, and the agent needs your written authority to act. We send our standard form once the quote is approved; you sign it, scan it and send it back. A plain signed scan is enough — no notarization, no apostille and no consular legalization.

No notarization or consular legalization As a UK applicant you do not need a notary, an apostille or a Chinese consular stamp for a normal China trademark application. China applies the reciprocity principle: where your home country does not require notarization of Chinese applicants, the CNIPA does not require it of you. The one regular exception is collective marks and certification marks, which do need authenticated documents — tell us if that is your case.

Fees

Item	Amount
China trademark registration — first class	USD 199 / class
Each additional class in the same application	USD 199 / class
Additional goods or services items beyond 10 per class	USD 10 / item
Availability search and written quotation	Free

Fees are quoted and payable in US dollars and are all-inclusive — the CNIPA official fee is already inside the price and is never billed separately. Full terms are in our Terms of Service; the complete fee schedule for every other service is on the services page.

China trademarks for UK businesses — common questions

Can I register a China trademark without a Chinese entity?

Yes. A foreign company or individual can own a China trademark without incorporating anything in China. The only requirement is that the application is filed through a CNIPA-registered agent, which we are. Your home address is used as the applicant address on the register.

Can I claim Paris priority from my UKIPO application?

Yes. If your UKIPO application was filed within the last six months, the Chinese application can claim priority from it and is treated as filed on the same day as the UK filing. The claim is declared when the Chinese application is filed, and a certified copy of the UKIPO filing follows within three months. This matters when a squatter risk is live, because it moves your effective date back ahead of third-party applications. Note that priority only covers what the UK filing covers — goods or classes added later are not covered by it.

Should I extend my UK mark to China through the Madrid Protocol?

You can: an international registration based on your UKIPO application or registration can designate China through WIPO. The trade-offs are real, though. The China right depends on your UK mark for five years (if the UK base fails, the international registration collapses), the goods and services are locked to the international registration, and a CNIPA provisional refusal still needs a Chinese agent to answer. Direct national filing through us avoids all three: free goods wording, no dependency, and one flat price with the agent included. Madrid tends to make sense when you are extending one mark to many countries at once, not when China alone is the target.

How long does it take to register a trademark in China?

Filing happens within about one business day of your approval. From there, formality examination and publication typically take four to six months, and substantive examination brings the usual total to around nine to twelve months where nothing goes wrong. If a refusal or an opposition is raised, the file takes longer and involves a separate chargeable service.

How much does it cost?

Our fee is USD 199 per class, including up to ten items of goods or services. That figure is all-inclusive: the CNIPA official fee is already inside it and is never billed on top. Additional items are USD 10 each, and each further class is charged separately. The availability search and written quotation are free.

Does my existing home registration protect me in China?

No. Trademark rights are territorial, so a registration that covers the United Kingdom, the Crown dependencies and (where applicable) extension jurisdictions gives no rights inside China. Only a Chinese registration — through the route above, or through a Madrid extension — is enforceable against squatters, copycats and marketplaces in China.

What happens if my application is refused?

The CNIPA issues a refusal notice with reasons, most commonly a conflict with an earlier mark or a distinctiveness objection. You can respond by requesting a review within the deadline, arguing the mark should proceed. This is a separate service with its own fee; we report the refusal to you with the deadline and the options before anything is spent.

Do you need a Power of Attorney?

Yes. A signed Power of Attorney is required to file on your behalf. We send you the form to sign after the quote is approved, so nothing has to be prepared up front. A simple signed scan is normally enough — there is no need to have it notarized, legalized or consularized before you send it. The full list of documents is in Documents you need to provide above.

Filing from another country

The process is the same worldwide; these pages cover the country-specific questions — priority from your home office and the Madrid route from it.

US United States China trademark from United States EU European Union China trademark from European Union JP Japan China trademark from Japan AU Australia China trademark from Australia General guide The full registration walkthrough