China Trademark Renewal: Keep Current Rights Evidence in the Enforcement File

By Pan Jianxing · Published 6 October 2026

A trademark certificate can remain in a litigation folder long after the registration's recorded term has ended. For an overseas owner, the problem often becomes visible when a platform, investigator or court asks for current rights evidence. Keep renewal management connected to enforcement work, so that the team can explain the registration's status with documents rather than an assumption that the agent has handled it.

This guide concerns Chinese national trademark registrations under the rules checked on 6 October 2026. International registrations designating China require a separate review of the applicable Madrid renewal route. The 2026 Trademark Law revision takes effect on 1 January 2027; deadlines and proceedings extending across that date need a further check of the operative rules.

Identify the registration before calculating the deadline

Start with the registration number, registered proprietor, approved goods or services and current term. Compare the certificate with the renewal history and official status information. An internal brand name is not a sufficient identifier: a portfolio may contain several similar marks, different classes and registrations held by different group companies.

Prepare a separate line for each registration relied on in the proposed enforcement action. Record the source and date of the status check. If a certificate, an agent's spreadsheet and the official record disagree, resolve that difference before copying a deadline into the case plan. A date remembered by the marketing team should not displace the controlling record.

Distinguish the ordinary renewal window from the grace period

Article 40 of the Trademark Law as amended in 2019 requires a proprietor wishing to continue using the registration to complete renewal procedures within the twelve months before expiry. Where that has not been done during that period, a six-month grace period is available. Each renewal term is ten years, calculated from the day after the previous term expires. Failure to renew by the end of the applicable period results in cancellation of the registration.

Use the ordinary window as the working target. The grace period is a legal provision to assess if needed, not a reason to leave responsibility unassigned. Ask the instructed agent to confirm the relevant dates and filing requirements against the particular registration. Do not calculate a filing deadline from the date of an infringement discovery or from a licence agreement's end date.

Build internal reminders around the actual deadline, with a named owner and a backup contact. Those reminders are management choices; they do not create additional statutory time. If expiry is close, give counsel the current record immediately rather than waiting for the evidence collection project to finish.

Keep instructions, filing and completion as separate events

An email asking an agent to renew is evidence of an instruction. It is not proof that an application was filed. Likewise, a filing acknowledgement is not the same document as the eventual renewal result. Keep each event visible in the portfolio and case records.

• Instruction: identify the correct registration and the person authorised to instruct the agent.
• Submission: retain the filing record, date and application identifiers, together with relevant payment evidence.
• Follow-up: track any notice requiring an answer or correction and who will handle it.
• Outcome: retain the renewal document and check the updated term against the official record.

Where the owner has changed its name or the registration has been transferred, provide the actual change documents and procedural history. Do not quietly replace the applicant's name in a draft and assume the underlying records have changed. Resolve the relationship between the renewal instruction and any other pending record updates with the responsible professional.

Explain a pending renewal accurately in enforcement

Article 5 of the Supreme People's Court's Interpretation on Trademark Civil Disputes, as amended in 2020, addresses a renewal application made during the grace period. Before approval, a court should accept an infringement action brought by the registrant or an interested party in that situation. This is a rule about accepting the action; it does not establish infringement, damages or the eventual renewal result.

If relying on that provision, organise the evidence showing the registration, relevant dates and renewal submission. Explain what is pending and supply the outcome when available. Avoid describing the registration as already renewed merely because the court has accepted a claim. Equally, do not assume every pending application falls within the circumstances described by Article 5.

Update the people and files that depend on the right

After renewal is confirmed, update the current rights pack used by counsel and the personnel managing complaints. Check which ongoing matters were supplied with the earlier term and provide the appropriate updated record. Keep the older documents for the chronology rather than overwriting them without a trace.

Renewal does not itself answer a non-use challenge, prove the authenticity of goods or resolve who may sue under a licence. Maintain use evidence and authority documents as separate parts of the enforcement file. Where renewal was missed, obtain a specific assessment of the remaining rights and options; a new application should not be described as automatically restoring uninterrupted protection.

For a review of an approaching expiry and an active dispute, contact Pan Jianxing with the registration number, recorded term and a non-confidential description of the proposed action. The immediate aim is to establish the true status and assign the next step to someone who can document its completion.

Pan Jianxing
China-qualified lawyer · Partner, 北京市长安律师事务所
Beijing & Shenzhen
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