Similar Trademarks in China: How CNIPA Decides, and How to Check Before You File

The most common ground for refusing a trademark application in China is a conflict with an earlier mark. Foreign brand owners are often surprised by what CNIPA treats as similar: a Chinese name that means the same as an earlier English mark, a three-character name that differs by one character, or an earlier mark with a descriptive word added. This guide explains how CNIPA compares marks, which situations usually count as similar, how to check before filing and where the arguments are if you are refused. For the full filing route, see Registering a trademark in mainland China as a foreign applicant. It is general information; a specific case needs professional advice.

The legal basis: Article 30

Under Article 30 of the Trademark Law, an application is refused if the mark is identical or similar to another party's mark that is registered or preliminarily approved for identical or similar goods or services. Where both marks are still pending, Article 31 gives priority to the earlier application.

So there are two questions, and both must be answered yes for a refusal: are the goods or services identical or similar, and are the marks identical or similar? Goods are compared using the subclasses of China's Table of Similar Goods and Services, not just the Nice class. A mark that is close to yours but covers goods in an unrelated subclass is usually not a bar (well-known marks aside). See China's Trademark Subclasses.

How the comparison is made

CNIPA's Trademark Examination and Review Guidelines (in force since 1 January 2022), Part II, Chapter 5, set out the method: first decide whether the goods or services are identical or similar, then compare the marks' sound, look, meaning and overall presentation, using the ordinary attention of the relevant public, viewing them in isolation, and comparing both the whole and the dominant parts.

The standard is the ordinary attention of the relevant public: would an ordinary buyer be confused, not an expert comparing stroke by stroke.

The whole and the dominant parts both count. If the dominant or most distinctive parts are identical or similar, confusion is likely.

The examiner has both marks side by side, so the Guidelines ask examiners to judge confusion as a consumer would meet the marks when buying.

At the filing stage CNIPA looks mainly at how close the marks themselves are; the earlier mark's distinctiveness and reputation, the public's level of attention and the applicant's intent are weighed in later proceedings.

Courts deciding infringement cases apply the Supreme People's Court's interpretation on trademark civil disputes. Article 9 defines similarity as resemblance in the shape, sound or meaning of words, the composition and colour of devices, the overall structure of the combined elements, or three-dimensional shapes and colour combinations, such that the public may be confused about the source or assume a particular connection. Article 10 compares the marks separately, from memory, and does take the registered mark's distinctiveness and reputation into account.

What CNIPA usually treats as similar

The Guidelines list typical cases for word, device and composite marks. For foreign applicants the ones that matter most are:

The same word in a different font or design, which is treated as identical or similar.

Marks of three or more letters that differ by only an individual letter, with no meaning or no clear difference in meaning. Adding, dropping or swapping adjacent letters counts.

The same Chinese characters in a different font, arrangement or with pinyin added; or three or more characters that differ by only one, with no clear difference in meaning.

Marks in different languages with the same main meaning. Your Chinese name can conflict with an earlier English mark that means the same thing, and the other way round. This is the trap behind many refusals of Chinese brand names chosen by translation.

An earlier mark plus a generic or descriptive word, a word for where the goods are made, sold or used, or a laudatory word, such as adding "Home", "Foods" or "Select". The added word does little to tell the marks apart.

Minor grammatical variations: singular or plural, an added article, conjunction or preposition, an abbreviation or a comparative form with the same meaning.

A mark that wholly contains or imitates an earlier word mark that is highly reputed or highly distinctive, so that the public may take it as part of a series.

The Guidelines also describe marks that are not similar: marks that sound alike but clearly differ in meaning, shape or overall look, and marks of three or more characters or letters whose first character or letter is clearly different in sound and look, or whose overall meaning differs. A different first letter is not a safe harbour, though: CATANA and KATANA were still held similar because they sound and look alike.

Checking before you file

Decide the subclasses first, then search CNIPA's database within them for the English mark, the Chinese name, its pinyin and any device. Search for close variants and same-meaning words, not just identical marks. See Before You File in China: What a Trademark Clearance Search Covers and What It Misses.

Clear the Chinese name separately. A clean search on your English mark says nothing about a Chinese name that translates it. If the core of your mark collides with an earlier mark, changing the core is safer than adding a descriptive word, which rarely changes the outcome.

If you are refused

A request for review of the refusal must be filed within 15 days of receiving the refusal notice (Madrid designations follow the provisional refusal procedure instead). Arguments that work best are concrete: the overall difference in sound, look and meaning; the shared element being common and weak in your industry; or the goods falling in non-similar subclasses.

If the cited mark has been registered for more than three years and may not be in use, a non-use cancellation can remove it; once the cancellation decision takes effect, the mark no longer stands in the way. A partial refusal can be divided so the accepted goods proceed to registration. See What to Do When Your China Trademark Application Is Refused, and for Madrid designations Madrid Designations of China: Handling a Provisional Refusal From CNIPA.

Frequently asked questions

Can marks in different Nice classes conflict? Yes. CNIPA compares subclasses. Some goods in different classes are treated as similar, and some goods in the same class are not.

Will a distinctive logo design avoid a conflict with an earlier word mark? Usually not, if the word element is the same or similar. The words are what the public remembers and speaks.

Does a pending earlier application block mine? It can. Once it is preliminarily approved it can be cited against you; while both are pending, the earlier filing date wins.

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, refusal reviews and oppositions in China for foreign brands; see our trademark registration service.