Authored by: Huang Ling , Zhou Xiaoli （Cissy） , Yu Lili , Wang Xinghua (Owen) , Xu Jiaxing (Jason) , Liu Ning and Fang wei
On December 27, 2025, China released the Draft Revision to the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China (“Trademark Law”) for public comments. It marks the fifth major change since the law’s inception in 1983 and, notably, the first full-scale revision to adopt a comprehensive, system-level restructuring approach rather than incremental textual adjustments. China’s trademark legislation has historically moved in step with the evolution of its market economy, but the revision confronts three persistent problems in practice. First, malicious registrations remain ubiquitous—trademark hoarding and preemptive registration of well-known brands have persisted despite earlier curbs due to vague standards and weak deterrence. Second, registration has been prioritized over actual use, producing vast inventories of “zombie marks” that crowd the register without serving the trademark’s core function as an indicator of source. Third, infringement coexists with abuse of rights: court-awarded damages have often been modest, while opportunistic litigation and aggressive enforcement tactics distort fair competition. The draft’s stated objectives are to bolster protection of the exclusive trademark right, improve administrative management, and significantly enhance deterrence against malicious applications.