China Strengthens Trademark Enforcement: What the 2026 Amendment Means for Foreign Brands

China’s top legislature passed a major amendment to the Trademark Law on July 3, 2026 — the most significant overhaul of the country’s trademark framework in over a decade. For foreign brands doing business in China, this changes the rules of IP protection at every stage: registration, enforcement, and dispute resolution.

Why It Matters

China has long been the world’s largest trademark filing jurisdiction. In 2025, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) processed over 6.8 million trademark applications — roughly 4 times the volume of the US Patent and Trademark Office. But foreign companies have consistently faced three pain points: bad-faith registrations by local squatters, slow enforcement against counterfeiters, and inconsistent damages awards in infringement cases. This amendment is part of a broader legislative push to improve the foreign investment environment — alongside China’s 2026 Legislative Agenda and new sci-tech investment incentives rolled out in early July.

The 2026 Trademark Law Amendment targets all three. According to China Briefing, the new law introduces punitive damages multipliers of up to 5 times actual losses for willful infringement — up from the 3x cap under the 2019 revision. It also shortens the opposition period from 3 months to 45 days and creates a fast-track cancellation procedure for trademarks registered in bad faith.

The Details

The bad-faith registration crackdown is the headline change. Under the amended law, CNIPA can now reject applications at the examination stage — not just during opposition — if the examiner finds evidence the applicant has no genuine intent to use the mark. This is a shift from the old system, where CNIPA was required to approve any application that met formal requirements, forcing legitimate brand owners to fight squatters through costly opposition and cancellation proceedings.

The numbers are significant. In 2025 alone, foreign companies filed over 8,400 trademark opposition cases against bad-faith registrations in China, according to CNIPA data. The average opposition took 11 months from filing to decision. Under the new fast-track cancellation procedure, a brand owner can petition for cancellation of a squatter-registered mark within 6 months of registration and expect a decision in 90 days.

For enforcement, the punitive damages escalation from 3x to 5x is backed by a new statutory damages floor of RMB 5 million (approximately USD 690,000) for willful counterfeiting — a 10x increase from the previous RMB 500,000 minimum. This matters because in practice, most foreign brands pursuing infringement claims in Chinese courts opted for statutory damages rather than proving actual losses, and the old floor was widely seen as too low to deter organized counterfeiting operations.

The amendment also introduces a nationwide trademark enforcement coordination mechanism. Previously, enforcement varied dramatically by province — a counterfeiter in Guangzhou might face aggressive raids while an identical operation in a second-tier city saw little action. The new mechanism requires provincial authorities to report enforcement actions quarterly to a central database, with CNIPA empowered to intervene when local enforcement falls below national benchmarks.

What You Should Do

If your brand sells in China — or plans to — the 2026 amendment changes your IP timeline:

• Audit your China trademark portfolio now. Identify marks you’ve registered but haven’t actively used in China. The new law strengthens non-use cancellation: a mark not used for 3 consecutive years can now be cancelled on CNIPA’s own initiative, not just upon third-party petition.
• File defensive applications before the amendment takes effect. The effective date is January 1, 2027. Bad-faith squatters will rush to file before the new examination gate kicks in. If you have brands you plan to launch in China within 2-3 years, register them now.
• Update your enforcement playbook. The 5x punitive damages ceiling and RMB 5 million statutory floor change the economics of pursuing counterfeiters. Cases you previously wrote off as “too small to litigate” may now justify legal action.
• Document actual use meticulously. With CNIPA gaining proactive cancellation powers for non-use, every shipment record, WeChat mini-program order, and Tmall transaction is evidence your mark is genuinely in commerce.

One Data Point

The number to remember: 8,400 — that’s how many trademark opposition cases foreign companies filed against bad-faith registrations in China in 2025 alone. Each one averaged 11 months and cost between USD 15,000 and USD 40,000 in legal fees. The 2026 amendment’s fast-track cancellation (90-day decision, no opposition required) eliminates roughly two-thirds of that timeline and cost for the most common type of foreign brand dispute in China.