On April 23, the Thirteenth Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress passed the fourth amendment to the Trademark
Law of China. The new trademark law will come into effect Nov. 1,
2019. The revisions are designed to curb bad faith filings, willful
infringements and counterfeit commodities. Businesses with brand
interests in China will have stronger grounds to oppose and cancel
bad faith applications and registrations under the new law; they
will also be able to more effectively enforce their trademark
rights in China. The most significant of the new revisions are
described here.
Bad Faith Being Ground for Rejection, Opposition and
Cancellation: Under the new trademark law, any application
or registration for a mark that is not intended for use will be
considered as a bad faith application or registration. Whereas bad
faith had previously been predominantly used in the invalidation
context, it is now a valid ground for rejection, opposition,
