Test

Since 2025, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has intensified trademark use regulation via new guidance and enforcement mechanisms, notably issuing the Notice on Strengthened Management of Trademark Use (the “Notice”) on November 21, 2025, followed by its Interpretation of the Notice (the ‘Interpretation’) on December 30, 2025, which serve as binding enforcement directives for local Intellectual Property Administration authorities nationwide.

The Notice focuses on seven types of illegal and non-compliant trademark use that will receive increased administrative enforcement scrutiny, aiming to promote standardised trademark use by various entities, guide society as a whole to respect and exercise trademark exclusive rights correctly, prevent trademark infringement, and promote fair competition. The Interpretation provided more specific examples for each category to clarify the scope of the targeted violations. Below is a summary of the 7 types of illegal trademark use, along with some provided examples in the Interpretation.

Summary of the 7 types of illegal trademark use and some of the examples provided

1. Use of unregistered trademarks containing deceptive or otherwise prohibited elements that are violating Article 10(1)(7) of Trademark Law, particularly-

(1) use of unregistered trademarks containing words such as “exclusive” (“专供”), “special supply”(“特供”), “premium” (“极品”), “national” (“国”), etc., which may mislead the relevant public regarding product quality or supply channels.
Example:

• 
• (“国宴”means “state banquet”) for restaurants.

(2) use of unregistered trademarks containing “selenium rich”(“富硒”), “organic”(“有机”), “zero additives” (“零添加”), “100%” or other content, where the actual attributes of the goods do not conform to such descriptions, thereby misleading the relevant public regarding the main raw materials, ingredients and other features of the goods.
Examples:

• (containing “selenium rich”) for apples;
• (containing “organic”) for fresh vegetables;
• (containing “zero additives”) for soy sauce;
• (containing “100%”) for bread;

(3) use of unregistered trademarks containing place names, years, “handmade” (“手工”/“手打”) or other content, which may mislead the relevant public regarding the place of origin, production time, manufacturing process and other features of the goods. Examples:

• (the first two Chinese characters “罗马”mean “Rome”, and the last two characters “瓷砖”mean “ceramic tiles”) for ceramic tiles that are not from Rome, Italy;
• for black tea, but neither the tea nor its supplier existed in 1837, and the claim of “THE FINEST TEAS OF THE WORLD” in the trademark is
• (the The Chinese characters mean “have a bowl of handmade noodles”) for For instant noodles, which are not handmade.

Registration applications for the trademarks in the aforementioned examples were rejected in accordance with Article 10 (1) (7) of the Trademark Law, and the relevant parties using the above trademarks faced administrative penalties by the local authorities in accordance with Articles 10 (1) (7) and 52 of the Trademark Law.

2. Use of registered trademarks in a deceptive manner,
   particularly –

(1) acts of using registered trademarks in combination with product names, advertising slogans, or packaging designs in a way that misleads the public about product quality, origin, or manufacturing process; and

(2) acts of unauthorised alteration of registered details that mislead the public about product quality, or alterations are made to free-ride on another’s trademark.
Examples:

• Using the registered trademark ““(“Fresh Soil”) in the form “(“Farmer’s House Fresh Pastured Egg”) for “eggs”. In this usage, the two Chinese characters of the registered mark were displayed in different colours alongside the product name and other promotional text. Notably, the second character was separated to form a more prominent, independent term: “土鸡蛋”
  (“Pastured Egg”). This registered trademark has been declared invalid by the CNIPA.
• Using the registered mark “” in the altered form on “honey”, where the deceptive claims such as “green”, “ecological”, “healthy” were added to the trademark. This illegal use has been penalised by the local authority in accordance with Articles 10 (1) (7) and 52 of the Trademark Law.