BEIJING – The Chinese government has announced amendments to its Trademark Law, set to take effect January 1, 2027. The revised framework aims to modernize the trademark system for digital assets and streamline administrative procedures, signaling a significant shift toward genuine use and market goodwill.

The amendments introduce several key updates:

•Dynamic trademarks: The revised law expressly lists “dynamic marks” among registrable signs, alongside sound and other traditional elements (Art. 14). The statute does not separately list “multimedia” marks.

•National symbol restrictions: Signs resembling national symbols, government insignia, central or state bodies, and iconic government buildings are strictly barred from registration or commercial use.

•Intent-to-use requirement: Applications that are not for the purpose of use and that clearly exceed normal production/business needs shall not be registered (Art. 19) (both conditions; “and,” not “or”), targeting abusive stockpiling.

•Well-known mark expansion: On dissimilar goods/services, protection against reproduction, imitation or translation of a well-known mark no longer requires China registration (Art. 21(2)); unregistered well-known marks remain protected on identical/similar goods (Art. 21(1)). Relief remains case-by-case and still requires public misleading and likely harm to the holder.

•Digital commerce alignment: “Use” of a trademark expressly includes use via the Internet and other information networks (Art. 2)—a definitional clarification, not a standalone e-commerce statute.

Businesses operating in or entering the Chinese market will need to maintain robust, verifiable evidence of commercial use, both online and offline, to align with this new "use-based" enforcement strategy.

Source：AGIP (Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property) News；2026-10-26；https://www.agip.com/News/en/news/23626