Your Chinese Distributor Registered Your Trademark: Article 15 and How to Get It Back

The most painful trademark squatting cases in China are rarely filed by strangers. They are filed by the people a foreign brand worked with: the distributor that sold its products, the agent that represented it, the factory that made its goods, or a former employee. Chinese trademark law has a specific rule for this, Article 15 of the current Trademark Law (2019 amendment). It is easier to use than a general bad-faith argument, because the key question is the relationship between you and the filer, not what the filer intended. This guide explains when Article 15 applies, how to oppose or invalidate the filing, what evidence to gather and how to prevent it. It sets out general rules; a specific case needs professional advice.

What Article 15 says

• Article 15(1), agents and representatives: where an agent or representative, without authorisation, registers the principal's trademark in its own name and the principal objects, the mark is not registered and its use is prohibited.
• Article 15(2), other relationships: where an application covers identical or similar goods, the mark is identical or similar to another party's earlier used but unregistered mark, and the applicant knew of that mark because of a contract, business dealings or another relationship, the mark is not registered if that party objects.

Article numbers in this guide follow the current law. The revised Trademark Law takes effect on 1 January 2027 and renumbers its articles (see China's Revised Trademark Law (2027): Unused Marks Can Be Cancelled Ex Officio); check the new numbering for anything filed after that date.

Paragraph 1: distributors, sales agents and company officers

• Who counts as an agent: not only trademark agencies. Under the Supreme People's Court's provisions on trademark grant and confirmation cases, distributors and sales agents that learned of the mark through a distribution or agency relationship are covered, and so are filings made while the parties were still negotiating such a relationship.
• Who counts as a representative: usually directors, supervisors, managers and others who could access the company's marks through their position.
• Filings through a front: where the applicant has a family or other special relationship with your agent or representative, collusion can be presumed and paragraph 1 still applies.
• No use in China needed: paragraph 1 can apply even if your brand has not yet been sold in China and is used only abroad. This matters for foreign brands whose Chinese distributor filed before the brand launched in China.

Paragraph 2: factories, suppliers, employees and failed negotiations

Paragraph 2 covers relationships outside paragraph 1. The court provisions list family relationships, employment (including former employees), neighbouring business addresses, and negotiations over agency or other business that did not lead to a deal. Supply, OEM manufacturing, franchise, advertising and design contracts also fall under paragraph 2.

Paragraph 2 has an extra condition: your mark must already have been used in China before the filer's application date, for identical or similar goods. If your mark was never used in China and an ordinary employee or a factory filed it, you will usually need other grounds, such as bad-faith filing without intent to use (Article 4) or registration obtained by deception or other improper means (Article 44). For OEM situations, see Made in China, Not Sold in China: Do You Still Need a Chinese Trademark?

How to get the mark back

1. Still in the publication period: oppose. You can file an opposition with CNIPA on Article 15 grounds within three months of the preliminary approval being published. Only the principal, the represented party or the earlier user can rely on this ground.
2. Already registered: invalidate. An invalidation request based on Article 15 must be filed within five years of registration; for a well-known mark registered in bad faith, the five-year limit does not apply.
3. More than five years later: consider Article 44 (registration by deception or other improper means), which has no time limit, non-use cancellation if the filer has not used the mark for three consecutive years, or a negotiated purchase. Our guide to Trademark Squatting in China: Opposition, Invalidation and Non-Use Cancellation compares these routes.
4. Contract claims: if the distribution, OEM or employment contract says who owns the brand or bars the other side from filing, you can also sue for breach and ask for the mark to be transferred or for damages.

Evidence to gather

• The relationship: distribution or agency agreements, OEM or supply contracts, purchase orders, employment records, and emails or meeting notes from negotiations.
• Knowledge of the mark: products, packaging and marketing material the filer handled; orders and invoices bearing the mark; emails discussing the brand.
• Your mark came first: proof that your mark existed before the filing date; for paragraph 2, proof of use in China before that date.
• Documents from abroad: contracts and emails created outside China usually need notarisation and legalisation or apostille, plus a Chinese translation. This takes time, so start early.

Prevention costs less than recovery

• File before you appoint a distributor: register your mark in China, including a Chinese-character version, in your core and related classes. See Your Sub-Brands Need Their Own Chinese Trademarks for product lines and sub-brands.
• Write ownership into contracts: the brand belongs to you; the distributor, factory or partner may not apply for identical or similar marks in any name; any marks filed must be transferred free of charge when the contract ends.
• Licence in writing: if a distributor may use your mark, sign a written licence and record it. See Trademark Licence Recordal in China.
• Watch the gazette: check CNIPA publications for filings by your partners or former staff, and act within the three-month opposition period, when it is cheapest.

Frequently asked questions

Our distribution agreement ended years ago. Can we still use Article 15? Yes, if the distributor learned of the mark through that relationship. The agreement does not have to be in force when the application is filed. But the five-year invalidation period runs from registration, so act quickly.

The distributor filed before we signed anything. If you were already negotiating a distribution or agency relationship, paragraph 1 can still apply. If there was no contact at all before the filing, Article 15 will not help and you need other grounds.

Should a Chinese trademark agency have refused the filing? Under Article 19 of the current law, an agency that knows or should know that a client's application falls under Article 15 must not accept the instruction.

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.