Geographical Indications in China: Certification Marks or GI Products?

On 27 October China's National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) published a list of 29 proposed national GI protection demonstration zones, open for comment until 2 November (news). The zones are showcases for how regions manage their geographical indications. For a foreign food, wine or spirits producer, the practical questions are different: how can our own regional name be protected in China, which Chinese GI names can we not use, and what may we still say about origin on labels and product pages? China protects geographical indications through two parallel systems. This article explains both and how foreign GIs get in. It sets out general rules; a specific case needs professional advice.

Two systems: trademarks or GI products

Article 16 of China's Trademark Law defines a geographical indication as a sign showing that goods come from a region, where their particular quality, reputation or other characteristics are essentially due to the natural or human factors of that region. The same GI can be protected under either system, or both.

• Certification mark or collective mark: filed with CNIPA under Article 4 of the Trademark Law Implementing Regulations and the Provisions on the Registration and Administration of Collective Marks and Certification Marks (CNIPA Order No. 79, in force since 1 February 2024). The applicant is usually a producers' association or similar body. It must file approval from the government or competent authority of the region, and describe the product's particular quality, how that quality depends on local natural or human factors, and the boundaries of the region (Article 5). Once registered, the GI is protected as a registered trademark and can be renewed.
• GI product: under the Measures for the Protection of Geographical Indication Products (CNIPA Order No. 80, also in force since 1 February 2024). Applications come from the county-level or higher government that proposes the production area, or a representative body it designates (Article 9). After examination CNIPA publishes a preliminary approval, and objections can be filed within two months (Article 15). Producers in the area then apply locally for permission to use the official GI symbol.

Authorised users under either system may use CNIPA's official geographical indication symbol on their products.

How a foreign GI gets protected in China

• Register it as a certification or collective mark: this is the most direct route for foreign right holders. A foreign applicant must also prove that the GI is legally protected in its own name in its country of origin (Order No. 79, Article 5). In practice that means the consortium or regulatory body that holds the GI at home files in China, with its home registration and the product specification. A foreign applicant with no habitual residence or business establishment in China must file through a Chinese trademark agency; see Registering a trademark in mainland China as a foreign applicant.
• The GI product route: Order No. 80 leaves the application, examination and use of the symbol for foreign GI products to separate rules to be issued by CNIPA (Article 35). Check the current position before relying on this route.
• The EU–China agreement: in force since 1 March 2021, it started with 100 GIs from each side and provides for a second list of 175 names from each side to be added through the same procedure. If your GI is European, check whether it is on either list before filing anything.

Certification marks and collective marks work differently. The owner of a certification mark, typically a consortium or inspection body, may not use it on its own goods, but must let anyone who meets the conditions use it (Order No. 79, Article 16). A collective mark may be used only by members of the owning organisation and cannot be licensed to non-members (Article 15). For most foreign GIs, where the home consortium sets a specification and checks compliance, the certification mark fits better.

Chinese GIs: what you cannot use

• Goods produced outside the region may not bear a GI registered as a certification or collective mark (Order No. 79, Article 17).
• A trademark containing a GI, for goods that do not come from that region, is refused and its use prohibited if it misleads the public (Trademark Law, Article 16). Marks registered in good faith before remain valid.
• For wines and spirits the rule is stricter. Using a registered wine or spirits GI on products from elsewhere is still caught even if the true origin is shown, the name is translated, or it is accompanied by words such as "type", "style" or "kind" (Article 8). The same protection applies to European wine and spirits GIs registered in China.

What you can still say about origin

Order No. 79 lists descriptive uses of a place name contained in a collective or certification mark that the owner cannot stop, as long as they are factual and follow normal commercial practice (Article 22):

• in a company name;
• stating where a product or its ingredients come from, on an ingredient list or packaging;
• stating the origin on the goods;
• stating the origin objectively in a product listing on an online platform.

Descriptive use in dish names and menus, without misleading the public, is also allowed (Article 23). None of this may be done in bad faith or in a way that damages the mark's reputation (Article 25). The general line between fair use and infringement in China is covered in Using Someone Else's Trademark Fairly in China.

Place names and your own trademark

Under Article 10 of the Trademark Law, names of administrative areas at or above county level, and well-known foreign place names, cannot be registered as ordinary trademarks, unless the name has another meaning or forms part of a collective or certification mark. A foreign brand named after its home town may therefore meet a refusal in China; see Signs You Cannot Use as a Trademark in China. Producers usually protect the regional name through the GI owner and their own brand through an ordinary trademark, used side by side; Order No. 79 expressly allows a user to show both (Article 17).

Keep the registration alive

A collective or certification mark can be cancelled if the owner lets it become the generic name of the goods, or if it goes unused for three consecutive years without good reason (Order No. 79, Article 26). Consortia that register in China should monitor the market, act against misuse and keep evidence that the mark is used there.

Frequently asked questions

Can our company register the GI itself? Normally not. The GI belongs to the producers of the region, so the application comes from the body that represents them and holds the GI at home. An individual producer protects its own brand with an ordinary trademark.

Our GI is not on the EU–China lists. Do we have to wait? No. You can apply to register it as a certification or collective mark at any time, with proof of protection at home.

Does a demonstration zone create a new GI? No. It recognises how well a region protects and uses its existing GIs; it does not change who may use any GI.

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 filings and customs recordals in China for foreign brands; see our trademark registration service.