International · CN
Trademark refusal rate in China: Madrid System filings
210,044 international registrations on record designate China. Among the 40,684 designations registered 2019–2022 (the resolved cohort we measure outcomes on), 61.7% received a provisional refusal, 10,565 (26%) are still refused outright, 9,307 partially, and 20,670 (50.8%) hold a grant of protection. That refusal rate is above the 4.4% median across the 60 most-designated offices.
How U.S. companies fare in China compared with 60+ other offices: where U.S. trademark owners get refused abroad.
47% of the registrations designating China also designate the United States. Those appear in USPTO data as well, so a USPTO clearance check catches them; the rest are invisible to a U.S.-only search.
Most-designated Nice classes in China
| Class | Goods / services | Registrations |
|---|---|---|
| Class 9 | Computers & Electronics | 60,694 |
| Class 42 | Computer & Scientific | 37,467 |
| Class 35 | Advertising & Business | 36,153 |
| Class 25 | Clothing | 27,666 |
| Class 3 | Cosmetics & Cleaning | 24,534 |
| Class 5 | Pharmaceuticals | 24,185 |
| Class 41 | Education & Entertainment | 22,470 |
| Class 7 | Machinery | 22,111 |
| Class 18 | Leather Goods | 17,031 |
| Class 16 | Paper Goods | 16,320 |
Who files into China
Office of origin of the registrations designating China, where the filers are based.
| Office of origin | Registrations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| European Union (EM) | 35,428 | 16.9% |
| United States (US) | 30,682 | 14.6% |
| Germany (DE) | 21,324 | 10.2% |
| France (FR) | 17,725 | 8.4% |
| Italy (IT) | 15,005 | 7.1% |
| Switzerland (CH) | 14,148 | 6.7% |
| Japan (JP) | 13,410 | 6.4% |
| United Kingdom (GB) | 10,522 | 5% |
International registrations designating China, by registration year
Registrations on record by the year they were registered internationally. Our copy covers registrations with activity since July 2025, so older years reflect renewals and decisions, not original volume.
| Year | Registrations | Volume |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 11,090 | |
| 2018 | 10,420 | |
| 2019 | 10,441 | |
| 2020 | 9,902 | |
| 2021 | 9,516 | |
| 2022 | 10,825 | |
| 2023 | 13,786 | |
| 2024 | 17,621 | |
| 2025 | 17,636 | |
| 2026 | 9,424 |
Planning to designate China? Run your mark through the free clearance risk check. It searches the international register in your classes and shows where similar marks were refused. If your mark has a logo, screen it with logo similarity search.