Guide · 7 Steps
China Trademark Squatter? What to Do in 7 Steps
You searched China's trademark registry — or got a email you couldn't dismiss — and found your brand name filed by someone else. China is a first-to-file country, so whoever filed first holds the stronger hand. But "stronger hand" is not "winning hand." Here is the sequence experienced sellers follow.
- Verify the filing yourself. Get the application number, applicant name, classes, and current status from the registry record — not from the email or the caller. Everything downstream depends on these four facts.
- Check the status and the clock. An application under examination is a different problem from a published registration. If the mark is in the 3-month opposition publication window, that window is your strongest lever — and it is closing.
- Profile the applicant. Search what else they have filed. A portfolio of western-brand names across many classes, held by a company with no real operations, is the classic bad-faith pattern — and it matters both for opposition and negotiation.
- Do not pay immediately. Sellers report buyback demands of $10,000–$30,000 in 2026. Some squatters settle far lower once they see you are organized; others fold when faced with a documented bad-faith opposition. Paying the ask, day one, is usually the most expensive option.
- Line up your options with real numbers. Opposition through a licensed agent typically runs $1,500–$4,000. A fresh filing in classes you can still win runs about $400–700 per class. Rebranding for the China market costs nothing to the rest of your business. Weigh each against the buyback demand.
- Protect what is still protectable. File your name in the classes that are still open — before the squatter or another one expands. The cheapest outcome of a squatting discovery is containing it.
- Set up monitoring. Bad-faith filers often come back with variant spellings or adjacent classes. A monthly watch on your name catches the next attempt while it is still step 1, not step 4.
Key facts
- China's trademark system is first-to-file: whoever files the name first owns it in China, even if the brand is yours.
- Opposition to a China trademark application must be filed within a three-month publication window — early discovery is what keeps this option open.
- China trademark buyback demands reported by sellers in 2026 run $10,000–$30,000, while a preventive filing costs about $500.
If you want help with step 1
Steps 1–3 are research: registry search, transliteration variants, applicant portfolio analysis. That is exactly what our $149 squatting scan delivers in 72 hours — the four facts, the applicant profile, and the risk grade. If your case needs opposition or filing, we hand you to a licensed China trademark agent with costs stated up front.