To provide an accurate interpretation of the core provisions of the newly revised “Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China,” assist various market entities in adapting to the new regulations—which will officially take effect on January 1, 2027—well in advance, effectively address practical challenges faced by domestic brands in trademark strategy, rights protection, and risk management, and fully leverage the transition period following the new law’s implementation to strengthen brand compliance systems, on August 21, the “Special Seminar on Corporate Global Competitive Brand Strategies Under the New Trademark Law,” hosted by Beijing King&Capital Law Firm, successfully concluded in Beijing. The event brought together leading legal experts, seasoned practicing attorneys, founders of well-known brands, corporate compliance officers, and other industry representatives. Participants engaged in in-depth theoretical discussions and practical experience exchanges centered on two core topics—the restructuring of trademark rights and the elevation of brand protection following the implementation of the new law—to jointly explore new pathways for the rule of law to empower the high-quality development of domestic brands and for compliance to safeguard their long-term, stable growth.
On the day of the event, Tian Wenchang, Honorary Director of Beijing King&Capital Law Firm and Advisor to the Criminal Law Committee of the All-China Lawyers Association; Feng Xiaoqing, Class II Professor and Ph.D. advisor at China University of Political Science and Law; Yu Jun, Ph.D. in Law from Renmin University of China and Professor at the School of Humanities and Law at Beijing University of Chemical Technology; and An Xi, founder of the high-end custom bridal gown brand Dear White and Distinguished Visiting Art Graduate Advisor at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Wang Chi, Deputy Secretary of the Party General Branch at New Oriental Beijing School; Chu Changzhi, Managing Partner and CEO of Beijing King&Capital Law Firm; Senior Partner Wang Fei; and attorneys Jiang Yuyuan and Chen Yu, among other guests, attended the event and delivered remarks. The event was moderated by Wei Qi.
At the start of the event, Tian Wenchang, Honorary Director of Beijing King&Capital Law Firm, delivered the opening remarks for the seminar. He pointed out that China’s intellectual property protection efforts began relatively late, and for a long time, market entities have suffered from weak legal awareness regarding intellectual property and a lack of protection concepts. At the same time, industry pain points—such as the blurred boundaries of trademark infringement and the difficulty of practical determination—have consistently hindered the improvement of quality and efficiency in domestic intellectual property protection and brand rights enforcement, leaving the industry facing multiple long-term challenges. He argued that the legal profession, as a key participant and driving force in the development of China’s intellectual property legal system, bears the important mission of promoting the rule of law in intellectual property, regulating market competition, and enhancing the level of intellectual property protection across society. Therefore, lawyers’ attention to and discussion of intellectual property protection should not be limited to the scope of their own practice but should adopt a broader perspective, extending to society as a whole, and fulfilling their social responsibilities as legal professionals in a wider range of fields. He noted that this seminar, by focusing on the core reforms and practical challenges of the new Trademark Law, holds significant practical importance for advancing the implementation of intellectual property law and empowering enterprises to develop their brands in compliance with regulations.
Subsequently, Chu Changzhi, Managing Partner and CEO of Beijing King&Capital Law Firm, delivered a welcome address. Drawing on King&Capital Law Firm’s 31 years of experience and expertise in the legal services sector, he expressed sincere gratitude to the expert guests and fellow attendees for their participation. He noted that amid the profound reshaping of the global competitive landscape, a brand is no longer merely a visual identifier for a company but has become a core intangible asset and a key competitive barrier in the marketplace. He noted that the imminent implementation of the new Trademark Law marks a comprehensive transformation of China’s trademark governance system, as well as an iterative upgrade in corporate brand-building and protection models—shifting from traditional “passive remedies” focused on post-incident rights protection to “proactive safeguards” centered on routine, proactive risk prevention and control. He explained that, leveraging a coordinated service system across its seven branch offices nationwide, King&Capital Law Firm has long specialized in intellectual property legal services. By utilizing digital technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence to enhance the quality and efficiency of its legal services, the firm precisely addresses the diverse compliance needs of enterprises as their brands expand globally. “In the future, the firm will continue to deepen its expertise in the field of intellectual property, refine its professional service capabilities, and provide comprehensive support to help domestic brands build a robust legal protection barrier,” he added.
This seminar was divided into two thematic sessions, progressively interpreting the core changes of the new law and dissecting practical pathways for brand protection. The first session, themed “The Reconstruction of Rights—Rectifying the Registration Order and Restoring the Obligation to Use,” focused on two core areas: the standardization of trademark registration order and the restoration of the obligation to use trademarks. It systematically interpreted the essence of the amendments and the core changes in the new Trademark Law from multiple dimensions, including legal theory, industry practice, and judicial practice.
Feng Xiaoqing, a Level 2 Professor and doctoral advisor at China University of Political Science and Law, delivered a keynote presentation titled “The Value Structure of Trademark Law: A Study Centered on the Revision of the Trademark Law.” He provided an in-depth analysis of the core value system of the new Trademark Law, clarifying the key characteristics that distinguish it from patent law and copyright law. He emphasized that the core purpose of trademark law is not merely to protect the property rights associated with a mark, but rather to focus on the protection of goodwill. He systematically elaborated on the value objectives of trademark law, including the protection of goodwill, the promotion of use, the assurance of trademark distinctiveness, and the upholding of the principles of good faith and the public interest. At the same time, he pointed out that this amendment has achieved significant breakthroughs in defining the scope of protection, establishing mechanisms for balancing interests, and strengthening protection against infringement. In practice, it is necessary to clarify the boundary between the similarity of marks and the likelihood of confusion, prevent the simplistic equating of partial similarity of marks with the existence of a likelihood of confusion, regulate trademark usage, and eliminate the abuse of trademark rights, thereby providing a solid legal foundation for the compliant application of trademark law and judicial rulings.
An Xi, founder of the high-end custom wedding gown brand Dear White, drew on her twelve years of experience in building an original wedding gown brand to analyze the “discrepancy between market perception and the legal definition of ‘brand’” from the perspective of the physical retail sector. She explained that the brand has consistently adhered to original design and focused on brick-and-mortar operations, growing into a leading brand in China’s high-end custom wedding gown industry. Although it holds comprehensive English trademark rights, the Chinese common name spontaneously adopted by consumers has faced malicious obstruction by trademark hoarders. The brand has long endured malicious attacks—including large-scale piracy and plagiarism, malicious lawsuits and reports, and the removal of its stores from e-commerce platforms—which have severely impacted its normal business operations and development. She expressed her hope that, following the formal implementation of the new Trademark Law, evidence of goodwill accumulated through genuine market operations will be fully recognized in judicial proceedings. This would effectively reduce the costs of rights protection and confirmation for honest business operators, allowing entrepreneurs to invest more resources in product innovation and brand upgrading, thereby fostering a healthy industry ecosystem.
Jiang Yuyuan, an attorney at Beijing King&Capital Law Firm, delivered a special presentation titled “Protection of Commercialization Rights in Light of the Trademark Law Amendment.” Closely aligning with the revisions to “prior rights” in the new Trademark Law, he focused on the cutting-edge intellectual property issue of the protection of commercialization rights. He closely linked commercialization rights to copyright law, trademark law, and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. Through a cross-referential analysis of different branches of law, he elaborated in detail on the definition and theoretical basis of commercialization rights, and systematically outlined the scope of protection, recognition criteria, commercial strategies, and enforcement pathways for commercialization rights under the framework of the new law. Drawing on trends in judicial practice and representative case law, he examined the evolution and challenges of judicial protection for commercialization rights related to the titles of works, the names of characters in works, and the names of distinctive elements within works. He clarified the new law’s rules for protecting legitimate prior commercialization rights and provided targeted solutions to the rights protection challenges enterprises face during brand operations, IP incubation, and commercial empowerment. This approach helps enterprises build robust safeguards for commercialization rights in advance of the new law’s implementation and and further unlock the commercial value of works. He provided targeted solutions to the rights protection challenges enterprises face during brand operations, IP incubation, and commercial empowerment, offering professional guidance to help enterprises build robust safeguards for commercialization rights in advance of the new law’s implementation and unlock the value of brand intangible assets.
Session Two, centered on the theme “Elevating Protection—Expansion of Well-Known Status, Cross-Border Channels, and Breaking Through Challenges in New Business Models,” focuses on key areas such as enhanced brand protection, cross-border rights enforcement, and compliance with new business models, unlocking a new logic for global brand protection under the new law.
Yu Jun, a professor at the School of Humanities and Law at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, delivered a legal analysis titled “From the Chaotic Proliferation of ‘Mark’s’ to ‘Business’ Dominating the World: The Logic of Elevated Brand Protection Under the New Trademark Law.” He conducted an in-depth analysis of the industry’s乱象—where “registration is prioritized over commercial reputation”—in traditional trademark governance. Drawing on the core breakthroughs in the recently announced amendments to the Trademark Law, he elucidated the logic behind the evolution of trademark protection from the chaos of blind registration to a value-driven approach centered on commercial value. He focused on interpreting the new law’s institutional innovations regarding the expansion of protection for well-known trademarks, the establishment of channels for cross-border brand rights enforcement, and trademark compliance in new digital business models. He clarified that brand protection in the new era is guided by a judicial approach centered on market goodwill and actual business operations, providing legal support for enterprises to strategically plan domestic and international trademark registrations, standardize brand usage in new business models, and address cross-border brand competition prior to the law’s official implementation.
Wang Chi, Deputy Secretary of the General Party Branch at New Oriental Beijing School, delivered a distinctive thematic presentation titled “Looking Beyond Competition to Understand Brand Growth: Strengthening the Roots and Soul of Chinese Brands’ Globalization Through Party-Building Leadership on the New Track of Trademark Rule of Law.” Moving beyond the narrow perspective of market competition, he explored the core foundations of Chinese brands’ global development by integrating the requirements of Party-building leadership and the rule of law in the new era. He stated that as the legal framework for trademarks enters a new phase of development marked by major revisions, corporate brand-building must not only strictly adhere to the legal bottom line and ensure compliant operations but also uphold the leadership of Party building to deepen a brand’s cultural heritage. By integrating brand development into the broader context of national development, enterprises can empower brand growth through Party building and safeguard brands’ global expansion through the rule of law, thereby solidifying the spiritual and legal foundations for the globalization of Chinese brands.
Chen Yu, an attorney at Beijing King&Capital Law Firm, delivered a practical presentation titled “How to Turn ‘Recognition’ into ‘Protection’—Cross-Class Protection of Well-Known Trademarks, Overseas Rights Protection, and Digital Governance Under the New Trademark Law.” Focusing on the core pain points in corporate brand development and addressing the widespread dilemma of “having brand recognition but lacking protection,” he systematically explained practical methods for cross-class protection of well-known trademarks, overseas brand rights enforcement, and brand governance in digital scenarios, drawing on the recently announced amendments to the Trademark Law. He provided a detailed breakdown of the new pathways and compliance key points for brand rights protection following the official implementation of the new law. He guided enterprises on how to capitalize on the pre-implementation window period to transform the brand recognition and goodwill accumulated in the market into future statutory legal protection through systematic compliance governance and standardized evidence retention, thereby effectively addressing various brand risks in digital environments and cross-border markets.
Following the panel discussions, Wang Fei, a senior partner at Beijing King&Capital Law Firm, delivered concluding remarks. She began by expressing gratitude to the speakers for their professional insights and to all participants—both online and offline—for their active engagement. She noted that the seminar’s presentations were multifaceted, practical, and closely aligned with real-world applications, deeply integrating cutting-edge theory, commercial needs, and legal practice to precisely address the core concerns of market entities following the implementation of the new law. She explained that while King&Capital Law Firm has deep roots in criminal defense, it is also fully committed to establishing itself as a leading provider of legal services in intellectual property and anti-unfair competition. In the future, the firm will continue to bring together forces from academia, the legal profession, and the business community to optimize the legal service ecosystem for intellectual property, thereby supporting the compliant, healthy, and high-quality development of domestic brands.
During the open discussion session, participating academic experts, practicing attorneys, corporate brand managers, and compliance professionals engaged in lively exchanges and in-depth discussions on key topics such as compliance preparation priorities ahead of the new Trademark Law’s official implementation, optimization of trademark strategies, infringement risk prevention and control, and cross-border brand protection. These discussions generated numerous new ideas and approaches that combine theoretical value with practical applicability.
This symposium precisely addressed the core of the new Trademark Law reforms, directly tackled the pain points and challenges facing the development of domestic brands, and clearly outlined the core logic and practical pathways for the restructuring of trademark rights and the elevation of brand protection under the new legal framework. Moving forward, Beijing King&Capital Law Firm will continue to leverage its top-tier professional legal service capabilities to deepen its expertise in the field of intellectual property law. The firm will consistently produce cutting-edge practical research findings and compliance solutions to help market entities seize the window of opportunity presented by the new law’s implementation. This will enable them to effectively mitigate brand compliance risks, fully unlock the value of their brand’s intangible assets, and use the power of professional legal expertise to safeguard China’s domestic and private brands as they navigate a steady course toward the future and set sail for global markets.
