Trademark, so-called brand, is used to distinguish between sources of goods and services. Serve as right towards intellectual assets, trademark is not only mental achievement but also intangible property belonging to a company. Only rights towards registered trademarks are protected under china legal system, which also means relatively unstable rights towards unregistered marks. Compare to value related to trademarks, cost for trademark registration is extremely low in China.

Characteristics of China Trademark
1. Significance
A trademark is a mark differentiating its commodity or service from others
2. Exclusive
The registered trademark owner has the exclusive right to its trademark, protected by law, without the trademark owner's permission, are not permitted to use the same or similar trademarks registered trademarks
3. Valuable
Trademark gain value through the creation, design, registration, advertising and usage of the mark which also increased the added value of goods.

Trademark Registration Flow
1.  Trademark search →Trademark production →Trademark registration application
2. Application received by Ministry of Commerce （about 1 year）
● Examination Report →Three months of Publication →Approval →Registration
●Opposition → Re-examination within 15 days → Final notice

Trademark Registration Procedures
1. One Power of Attorney signed by the applicant
2. A copy of business license if the applicant is a company 
3. 12 copies of trademark sample with length and width limited to 5 cm ~10 cm
●For color marks, 11 copies of color sample and 2 copies of sample in black and white
● For marks in black and white, 12 copies of sample

Time to Take
1. One year after filing of application. The trademark office would issue a preliminary announcement of publication and send to the applicants
2. Three months after the announcement, the trademark office would officially issue an Certificate of Trademark Registration
3. Time to obtain Certificated of Trademark Registration: About 2 years in total
4. Notice of acceptance : Applicants can use the trademark with a “TM” after receiving notice of acceptance issued by the trademark office within 60 days after the application.

Period of Validity
Subject to Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China , the period of validity of a registered trademark shall be ten years counted from the date of the approval of the registration.
1. Extensions are available if filed within the prior six-month period with a payment of fee. renewal is valid for 10 years, There is no limit to the number of times of renewal
2. Where no such application could be filed within the said period, a six-months extension of this deadline may be obtained upon request 
3. If no application is filed by the expiration of the extension period, the registered trademark shall be canceled by the trademark office