Your China trademark does not travel. Protect the US shelf or Amazon listing with a USPTO registration (use in commerce / ITU + specimens). Protect the EU with an EUTM or national marks. Madrid is efficient for many designations but a hit on the home China mark can cascade (central attack). Search each register before you buy ads. Write goods/services in the local idiom — China subclasses do not paste into USPTO. Decide whether the WFOE, HK holdco or parent files. Never let a distributor register “for you” in their name. If someone already filed abroad, the fight/buy/rebrand logic is the same as China — different office.
Handy, not a waiver of local examination or US use.
US special?
Use / specimens / Office Actions.
EUTM?
One filing, all member states — still opposable.
Who should own it?
Usually the group entity that will license and sue — document it.
Amazon Brand Registry?
Needs the local registration, not a business licence translation.
A CNIPA certificate does not protect Amazon.com.
Scope and legal framework
Paris Convention priority. You typically have six months from the first regular filing to claim priority in other Paris countries. Diary it. Shipping goods is not a substitute for a filing date.
Madrid Protocol. One international application based on a home mark, then designations. Efficient docketing. The home mark must stay alive; a successful attack on the base can take designations down during the dependency period.
USPTO use-in-commerce / EUIPO unitary mark. The US still wants bona fide use (or a timed statement of use). The EUTM is unitary — one opposition can affect all member states. Neither office treats a CNIPA class heading as a finished specification.
Do not paste China subclasses into a US application.
Practical workflow
Paris priority is six months. Do not launch ads first.
Write who owns the brand and who will file (WFOE vs HK vs parent).
Search each target register and the obvious Amazon/Tmall squatters.
Choose Madrid, national, or a hybrid (often US national + Madrid for the rest).
Localise the goods/services; keep a China-class map only as an internal table.
For the US, plan specimens and the use clock from day one.
Watch + renew; do not let the China base mark lapse if Madrid depends on it.
Common mistakes
Foreign squat: same fight/buy/rebrand logic, different office.
Letting the importer file in their name.
Treating Madrid as “registered everywhere.”
US specimens that are mockups or China-only packaging.
Action checklist
Owner entity written down.
Target markets ranked.
Searches done before the campaign.
Madrid vs national chosen per market.
US use plan if the US is on the list.
Distributor contract: they do not own the mark.
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FAQ
Common questions
Quick answers for foreign nationals and employers. Rules vary by city and change over time.
Must we have a China registration before Madrid?
Madrid needs a home application or registration in a member office. For many Chinese groups that home is CNIPA. You can still file national applications abroad without waiting for the China grant.
Can we use the same Nice class wording everywhere?
No. Offices accept different descriptions. Rewrite locally.
Someone filed our brand in the US first?
Search, then oppose/cancel/buy — same menu as China squatting, different statute.
Consultation preparation
What to prepare before contacting counsel
Send a focused first package so counsel can check conflicts, understand scope, and identify urgent deadlines.
A concise timeline and the result you want to achieve.
Names of all parties and affiliates for a conflict check.
Key contracts, notices, correspondence, filings, or decisions.
Known deadlines, preferred language, location, and budget constraints.
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