Before You Send Drawings to a Chinese Factory: What to Register, What to Sign, NDA vs NNN

Many of the questions small brands post about Chinese manufacturing start too late: the factory is already selling the design. The cheapest protection comes earlier, before you send the first drawing. This guide covers what to register in China before you share anything, what an agreement with the factory should cover, why a standard NDA is not enough, and how to stage what you disclose. It is general information, not a contract template; Chinese law and the facts of your case decide what works, and the agreement itself should be drafted with a lawyer.

Step 1: register before you share

• Trademark in China: China is first-to-file. Run a clearance search, then file your brand in Latin letters and in any Chinese version before you contact factories. Registrations at home do not count in China. See what a clearance search covers and choosing a Chinese brand name.
• Design patent in China: for products that sell on their appearance. A design must be new at the filing date, so file before the design is made public. Sharing drawings with a factory under a confidentiality obligation is generally not public disclosure, but the factory's own listings or trade-show photos are.
• Utility model or invention patent: for technical features. A utility model is faster and cheaper but protects structure and shape only; an invention patent is examined fully and lasts longer.

These rights do different jobs. A trademark does not protect a shape, a design patent does not protect a brand name, and none of them binds the factory the way a contract does.

Step 2: sign an NNN agreement, not just an NDA

A typical Western NDA only stops the factory from disclosing your information. In manufacturing, the usual problems are different: the factory uses your design to make and sell the product itself, or goes around you to sell directly to your customers. An NNN agreement covers all three:

• Non-disclosure: no sharing of your drawings, specifications or customer information.
• Non-use: no use of your design or know-how except to make your order.
• Non-circumvention: no selling the product, or anything confusingly similar, directly to your customers or through others.

General points that make an agreement work in China:

1. Chinese language, Chinese law: a contract in Chinese, governed by Chinese law, is far easier to enforce against a Chinese company than one governed by your home law.
2. Jurisdiction where the factory is: a judgment from a foreign court is hard to enforce in China. Choose the court where the factory is located.
3. Liquidated damages: a fixed amount payable on breach avoids having to prove your exact loss.
4. Who is bound: the factory's affiliates, subcontractors and employees should be covered, and the signatory should be the legal entity whose name matches its business licence and company seal.
5. Duration and return of materials: obligations that survive the end of the relationship, and return or destruction of your files and samples.

A contract binds only the parties who sign it. It does not stop a third party who copies your product from a marketplace listing; registrations do that.

Step 3: disclose in stages

1. Quotation stage: share only what is needed to price the job, such as dimensions, materials and quantities, not full drawings.
2. After signing and a deposit: release the full files, preferably watermarked and logged.
3. Split the product where you can, so that no single factory has every component or the final assembly.
4. Put tooling ownership in writing: who owns the moulds, where they are kept, and that they cannot be used for anyone else.
5. Keep a dated record of what you sent, when and to whom. It is your evidence if a dispute starts.

If the factory copies anyway

Secure the evidence first, then choose a route: platform complaints, a demand based on the agreement, administrative action or a lawsuit. If the factory published your design without your consent, Chinese law still gives you six months from that disclosure to file a design patent without losing novelty. See what to do when your factory is selling your design.

Frequently asked questions

Will a factory sign an NNN agreement? Many established factories that work with foreign brands are used to signing them. A refusal to sign anything is useful information in itself.

Do I need a finished product before filing a design patent? You need the final appearance, shown in drawings or photos. Filing before mass production is normal; filing after the design has appeared online is usually too late.

Is my NDA from home useless? Not useless, but it is weaker in China. It usually covers disclosure only, and enforcing a foreign judgment in China is difficult.

J&C Intellectual Property Agency, founded in 2008, is a CNIPA-recorded trademark agency and a member of the China Trademark Association. We handle trademark searches and filings in China for foreign brands; see our trademark search service.