The largest market on the map and the one where foreign brands most often arrive to find their own name already registered by someone else.
Utility models register without substantive examination, which makes them fast and cheap — and a favourite tool of copycats filing against the original maker. If you manufacture here, search them before you tool up.
China splits each Nice class into subclasses, and protection runs subclass by subclass. Filing 'class 25' is not enough — the subclasses you skip are the ones a copycat can register.
If you don't register a Chinese-character version, distributors and consumers will coin one, and someone else can register it. Pick it deliberately: sound, meaning and availability all matter.
A registration unused for three consecutive years can be cancelled on request. Keep dated invoices, packaging and listings from the first sale.
Squatter registrations can be opposed or invalidated, but it costs more and takes longer than filing first. Speed is the cheapest defence.