Research · USPTO · Who files
Who files hundreds of U.S. trademarks a year? Increasingly, individuals in China
In 2026 so far, 30 of the 100 biggest filers of U.S. trademark applications are individual people with an address in China, not companies. Before 2020 there were none. We looked at who files hundreds of U.S. trademarks a year, what they file, and how those applications fare at the USPTO.
From none to nearly a third of the top 100
In 2016, applications from owners based in China made up 7.8% of U.S. trademark filings. By 2021 it was 26.1%, about one application in four, and it has stayed above one in five since. Within that, a new kind of filer appeared: individuals, not companies, filing 50 or more applications a year each. There were none before 2020; in 2026, with the year not yet over, there are 22, between them filing 1,543 applications, and 30 of them rank among the 100 biggest filers of the year, the most we have seen.
| Filing year | Applications | From China | From China | Individuals in China, 50+ a year | Of the top 100 filers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 401,644 | 7.8% | 0 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 452,831 | 11.2% | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 472,137 | 11% | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 497,969 | 13.8% | 0 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 665,726 | 25.2% | 34 | 4 | |
| 2021 | 673,574 | 26.1% | 9 | 4 | |
| 2022 | 551,244 | 20.4% | 4 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 547,945 | 20.9% | 15 | 15 | |
| 2024 | 597,122 | 25.3% | 1 | 2 | |
| 2025 | 625,601 | 23.2% | 11 | 12 | |
| 2026 (so far) | 521,616 | 22.1% | 22 | 30 |
What they file: one invented word, for goods sold online
90% of the applications individuals in China filed from 2019 to 2022 were a single word of 4 to 14 letters, against 26.7% for U.S. owners. Most are invented words with no meaning in English. And they are for physical consumer goods:
| Individuals in China: top classes | Share | U.S. owners: top classes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class 25 Clothing | 14.7% | Class 41 Education & Entertainment | 11.5% |
| Class 21 Housewares | 11.3% | Class 35 Advertising & Business | 10.7% |
| Class 9 Computers & Electronics | 10.6% | Class 25 Clothing | 9.7% |
| Class 28 Toys & Sporting Goods | 10.2% | Class 9 Computers & Electronics | 7.8% |
| Class 11 Environmental Control | 8% | Class 42 Computer & Scientific | 6.8% |
| Class 20 Furniture | 6.3% | Class 36 Insurance & Financial | 4.2% |
Clothing, kitchenware, electronics, toys, appliances and furniture: the categories of online marketplaces. The pattern fits sellers who need a trademark to use a marketplace's brand tools; Amazon's Brand Registry, for example, accepts a pending or registered U.S. trademark. U.S. owners, by contrast, file most for services: education and entertainment, advertising and business, software.
They register more often, and faster
| Applications filed 2019–2022 | Applications | Registered | Dead without registering | Median months to register |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individuals in China | 230,203 | 82.5% | 12.9% | 10.3 |
| Companies in China | 296,278 | 79.4% | 15.8% | 12.4 |
| U.S. owners | 1,550,117 | 52.7% | 45% | 13.8 |
| Owners elsewhere | 311,915 | 66.9% | 30.1% | 16.2 |
82.5% of these individuals' applications registered, in a median of 10.3 months, against 52.7% and 13.8 months for U.S. owners. An invented word rarely resembles an earlier mark, so it passes the likelihood-of-confusion check easily, and an application filed to sell a product is usually filed for goods already on sale. Since August 2019, applicants based outside the U.S. must also be represented by a U.S.-licensed attorney, so these filings arrive prepared by professionals.
What it means if you are choosing a brand
- The goods classes are crowded with recent, live marks. Hundreds of thousands of these registrations are only a few years old. A short invented name for clothing, kitchenware or electronics is more likely than ever to sit close to one of them, so check before you print packaging: trademark availability check.
- Registered is registered. Who filed a mark does not change what it blocks. A similar name in your class can still stop your application.
- Watch your own brand. The same speed works the other way: a look-alike can be filed and registered within a year. A free brand watch emails you when someone files a name or logo close to yours.
Methodology
- Source. USPTO trademark records: every application with a filing date from 2016, with its owners, classes and outcome.
- Origin. The first owner listed on the application. The USPTO leaves the country empty for U.S. addresses, so a blank country with a U.S. state counts as the United States. "Individual" is the USPTO's legal entity type for a person.
- High-volume filers. An owner name and address with 50 or more distinct applications filed in one calendar year. One business filing under several names or addresses counts more than once.
- Outcomes. Applications filed 2019–2022. "Registered" means a registration date was issued; "dead without registering" means abandoned or cancelled before registration.
- Single word. The mark's wording is one word of 4 to 14 letters with no spaces or digits.
- Refresh. Recomputed on the first of each month; 2026 covers filings through 3 October 2026.
Download: filers by year (CSV), outcomes by origin (CSV). Reuse is welcome with a link to this page.