20th December 2019, Xinhua News Agency reported that the China Trademark Office asserted its intention to take a firm hand on bad-faith registration and further protect the copyright and trademark to ensure fair competition.
据新华社2019年12月20日报道，中国商标局表示，将坚决打击失信注册，进一步保护著作权和商标，确保公平竞争。
While western media seems to love to report stories on how in China the copyrights and trademarks are not respected at all and how the law enforcement fail to protect the legal rights of foreign investors.
虽然西方媒体似乎喜欢报道中国的版权和商标如何得不到尊重，以及执法部门如何未能保护外国投资者的合法权益的故事。
China has become a giant trademark countries as the accumulated amount of registered trademarks is up to 24.78 million cases so far. The application case number has ranked first worldwide for 17 years in a row. In the meantime, bad-faith registration is not uncommon.
到目前为止，中国已累计注册商标2478万件，已成为商标大国。申请案例数量连续17年位居全球第一。与此同时，恶意注册并不少见。
Since 2018, there had been about 130000 cases been rejected at different phases of application.In addition, it is declared that trademark not for use purpose will be considered as bad-faith and will be rejected according to latest policies.
自2018年以来，已有约130000起申请在不同阶段被驳回。此外，根据最新政策，宣布非出于使用目的的商标将被视为失信行为，并将被拒绝。
Therefore, with a proud Chinese nationality, Reindeer Station is firmly positive that Chinese government is very seriously with protecting intellectual property and while never ceased to improving and updating the copyright law.
因此，作为一个自豪的中国民族，宁波灵达商务有限公司坚定地肯定中国政府非常重视保护知识产权，同时从未停止过完善和更新著作权法。
However, there are certain stereotypes concerning the trademark registration in China that we would like to discuss and clarify on general basis. We hope after reading this article, you won’t be mislead by media stories anymore, at least not easily.
然而，关于中国商标注册的某些刻板印象，我们希望在一般的基础上进行讨论和澄清。我们希望您在读完这篇文章后，不要再被媒体报道所误导，至少不会轻易被误导。
▍ China’s law enforcement does a poor job protecting patent right
Truth: Those who fail to distinguish the various types of intellectual property usually believe that. Maybe China’s patent law system is difficult for foreign companies to grasp even with translation.
真相：那些不能区分各种类型知识产权的人通常相信这一点。也许中国的专利法制度即使是翻译也很难让外国公司掌握。
But, its protection of trademarks is actually quite good and getting better all the time. The simple explanation is that as domestic companies growing stronger and more influential with the concern of protecting their own trademarks, would demand the law enforcement to take better action.
但是它对商标的保护其实是挺好的，而且一直在变得越来越好。简单的解释是，随着国内公司出于保护自己商标的考虑而变得更强大和更有影响力，将要求执法部门采取更好的行动。
Yet, it is unfortunately true that copyright protection in China, mostly of music, films, and software is unsatisfactory.
然而，不幸的是，中国的版权保护(主要是音乐、电影和软件)并不令人满意。
▍ When only manufacturing in China then shipping abroad, no need to register
Truth: China adopts the rule of “First to File“, unlike the USA which is “First to Use“. Therefore if you intent to only taking full advantage of the world-class manufacturing line then shipping your labeled products overseas, someone who holds your trademark in China can stop your shipment from leaving.
真相：中国采用“先备案”的规则，而不像美国是“先使用”的。因此，如果您只打算充分利用世界级的生产线，然后将您的标签产品运往海外，在中国持有您的商标的人可以阻止您的货件离开。
This is a typical “Trademark thief“ act. Those thieves are well-earned professionals who specified in registration foreign brand in China and somehow blackmail the actual trademark holder to buy out their original one.
这是一个典型的“商标窃贼”行为。这些窃贼是来之不易的专业人士，他们在中国注册外国品牌，并以某种方式勒索实际商标持有者买断他们原来的商标。
They are well aware of the price foreign holders will loss if the custom refuse to release the shipment offshore and the high cost of litigation, then offering significant “discounted“ price compare to that cost.
他们很清楚，如果海关拒绝将货物放到海外，外国持有者将损失多少价格，以及高昂的诉讼成本，然后提供与该成本相比明显的“折扣”价格。
Therefore, it is extremely important to at least check with the trademark office for any trademark similarity before stating manufacturing anything you want to patent. If unfortunately it has been stolen, you can choose either to buy it back with much more bargaining power over the scenario above, or to litigate.
因此，在声明生产任何你想申请专利的产品之前，至少要与商标局核实是否有任何商标相似之处，这是极其重要的。如果不幸的是它被偷了，你可以选择在上面的情况下以更大的讨价还价能力买回它，或者提起诉讼。
The most recent amendment to the China’s Trademark Law provides that applications for trademarks not intended for use shall be rejected. Even prior to the entry into force of the amended Trademark Law, China’s Supreme Court and the China Trademark Office (CTMO) had taken aim at bad-faith registrations.
中国商标法的最新修正案规定，不予使用的商标申请不予受理。甚至在修订后的“商标法”生效之前，中国最高法院和中国商标局(CTMO)就已经将目标对准了失信注册。
▍Trademark the original one, not the translated one
Truth: Chinese language is difficult but actually China’s trademark requirements are quite similar to most other countries. So the paperwork should not stop any perspective trademark holders to consider registration of its Chinese name.
真相：中文很难，但实际上中国对商标的要求与大多数其他国家非常相似。因此，文书工作不应阻止任何角度的商标持有人考虑注册其中文名称。
For example, Starbucks registered more than 200 trademarks in China. It has registered Starbucks in English and the translation of “star” and “bucks” together in Chinese. Some companies trademark the simplified name and traditional one, even the name in local language.
例如，星巴克在中国注册了200多个商标。它已经用英文注册了星巴克，并用中文将“star”和“bucks”的翻译放在一起。一些公司注册了简体名称和繁体名称，甚至是当地语言的名称。
▍ International copyright is enough to get protection as stated in the Chinese Law
Truth: From experience, it is always better to get the trademark registration in China to file for protection.
真相：根据经验，在中国注册商标申请保护总是更好的。
In fact, a foreign copyright registration, even if its translated, notarized, certified by the local authorities, and authenticated at a Chinese embassy or consulate, the authorities will still want to see a Chinese registration.
事实上，外国版权注册，即使它被翻译，公证，由当地政府认证，并在中国大使馆或领事馆认证，当局仍然希望看到中国的注册。
After assessing these stereotypes, Reindeer Station would like to offer some tips about trademark in China.
在评估了这些刻板印象之后，宁波灵达商务有限公司想提供一些关于在中国注册商标的建议。
Be careful with the agent you choose to register your trademark / 小心你选择的注册商标的代理商
It is somehow a sad fact that there are fake lawyers and fake agents with no qualifications whose simple game is to lure your down payment.
然而总有一些悲伤的事实：有一些没有资质的假律师和假代理人，他们的简单游戏就是引诱你的首付。
Usually the most investment they made is a copycat website of legit lawyers and institutions. Nevertheless, every each one legit lawyer in China has a code you can check with government authorities, and there are multiple supervising institutions can be used for reference.
通常，他们进行的最大投资是合法律师和机构的山寨网站。尽管如此，中国每个合法律师都有一个可以向政府部门核实的代码，而且有多个监督机构可以参考。
Register trademarks in China, better do this before going in / 在进入中国前最好注册商标
As we explained above, trademark theft is not uncommon. To avoid further trouble and seek maximum protection, it is strongly suggested to make the registration sooner than later.
正如我们上面解释的那样，商标盗窃并不少见。为了避免更多的麻烦和寻求最大的保护，强烈建议尽早注册。
Record your trademarks with China Custom / 用中国海关记录您的商标
It’s an extremely cost-efficient way to amplify the benefits of registering your trademarks in China. And one should always seek opportunities to liaise with different Customs offices, better, provide up to the date sample of products for the convenience for their work when counterfeit appear in the market.
这是一种极具成本效益的方式，可以扩大您在中国注册商标的好处。而且，当假冒产品出现在市场上时，应该经常寻找机会与不同的海关联系，更好地提供最新的产品样品，以方便他们的工作。
Nowadays, the application is handled on the official website of China Trademark Office. Like most government website, it only provide Chinese version. Therefore if you have any questions and concerns, which are inevitable if you are considering doing business in or with China, please contact us. We are ready to help make everything easy.
如今，申请在中国商标局的官方网站上办理。像大多数政府网站一样，它只提供中文版本。因此，如果您有任何问题和顾虑，如果您正在考虑在中国或与中国做生意，这是不可避免的，请与我们联系。我们随时准备帮助您让一切变得容易。