# CNIPA's answers on who can apply CNIPA's published replies from 2019 to 2022 on who can apply: individuals and individual businesses, branches, government bodies, co-applicants, and the limit on companies with agency work in their scope. Canonical URL: https://ginbing.com/docs/china-trademark/cnipa-answers-who-can-apply Markdown URL: https://ginbing.com/docs/china-trademark/cnipa-answers-who-can-apply/index.md ## TLDR CNIPA's published replies from 2019 to 2022 on who can apply for a Chinese trademark: individuals and individual businesses, branches, government bodies, co-applicants, and companies with agency work in their business scope. ## Guide Replies CNIPA published from 2019 to 2022 to questions about who can apply for a trademark, translated by Ginbing. Each reply links to its Chinese original on CNIPA's website. ## About these replies - **Official source.** [Trademark registration questions](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpublist.do?sysid=13), the public column where CNIPA answers trademark questions. Each reply links to its official page. - **Issued by.** CNIPA - **CNIPA's dates.** Each reply shows the date CNIPA answered. All of them date from 2019 to 2022. - **Checked against the official page.** November 6, 2026 > These are replies to individual questions. They are not rulings, and CNIPA decides each case on its own facts. The translations are Ginbing's own, not official, and Ginbing is not part of CNIPA. Only the Chinese text is official. Each heading is Ginbing's short summary of the point the reply answers; the asker's own words, which may cover other points, are on the official page. Greetings and contact details are left out, and long replies are shortened to the parts that answer the question. > **Warning:** These replies are older than those on CNIPA's other answer pages, and each states the position on its date. Where a [later reply](/docs/china-trademark/cnipa-answers-filing-and-timing) or CNIPA's current guide differs, rely on the later source. They were written under the 2019 Trademark Law, and the [revised law](/docs/china-trademark/laws/trademark-law/2026) takes effect on January 1, 2027, with [some changed rules and article numbers](/docs/china-trademark/2027-trademark-law-changes). Fees and procedures can also change. Check the current rule before relying on one of these replies. ## Must a domestic individual have an individual business license or a farm contract to apply? > Yes. An applicant who is a natural person must submit a copy of a valid identity document, such as an identity card, passport or household registration certificate, together with a copy of an Individual Business License or of a rural land contracting agreement. > > [CNIPA reply of October 14, 2022](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=408469), translated by Ginbing ## Why must a domestic individual applicant hold an individual business license? > After the Trademark Law was amended in 2001, there was in practice no restriction on who could apply, but large numbers of bad-faith pre-emptive filings and trademark speculation followed. The Trademark Office therefore issued the Notes for Natural Persons Filing Trademark Applications in 2007. Under Article 4 of the Trademark Law, only natural persons with business qualifications, such as individual businesses and rural contracting households, may apply to register a trademark. That article stresses that only natural persons, legal persons or other organizations genuinely engaged in production and business activities may apply, and the legislative intent has not changed. > > [CNIPA reply of March 1, 2020](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=51031), translated by Ginbing ## Can a company's legal representative use its business license to apply in their own name? > No. The application can only be filed in the company's name. > > [CNIPA reply of August 12, 2020](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=332651), translated by Ginbing ## If I own a small company, can it use a mark applied for in my own name? > You can apply in the company's name, and once the mark is registered the company can use it in its own name. If the application is made in your personal name, the exclusive right belongs to you personally, and for another entity to use the mark an assignment or a license recordal must be filed. > > [CNIPA reply of January 11, 2019](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=23365), translated by Ginbing ## Can the investor in a sole proprietorship enterprise apply in their own name on its business license? > No. > > [CNIPA reply of July 26, 2019](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=38241), translated by Ginbing ## How does an individual business apply, and which applicant type does it choose? > An applicant that is an individual business may file in the trade name registered on its Individual Business License, or in the name of the operator registered on the license. The applicant type should be "natural person". > > [CNIPA reply of June 13, 2022](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=396704), translated by Ginbing ## Can someone other than the operator named on an individual business license apply with it? > No. > > [CNIPA reply of April 6, 2022](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=389569), translated by Ginbing ## Can a person aged 16 or 17 apply? > A domestic natural person must submit a copy of a valid identity document, such as an identity card, passport or household registration certificate, together with a copy of an Individual Business License or of a rural land contracting agreement. If the materials are complete, the person can apply. > > [CNIPA reply of May 13, 2019](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=28574), translated by Ginbing ## Can a branch of a company be an applicant? > Yes, provided it can supply proof of status that meets the requirements. > > [CNIPA reply of August 27, 2019](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=40425), translated by Ginbing ## Can a government body apply for a trademark? > Government bodies may not apply for trademarks. The basis is Article 4 of the Trademark Law. > > [CNIPA reply of November 29, 2019](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=46636), translated by Ginbing ## Can a rural collective economic organization with a registration certificate apply? > Yes. > > [CNIPA reply of September 7, 2020](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=334526), translated by Ginbing ## What extra document does a public institution need to register a mark containing its city's name? > Besides the application form and a sealed copy of its proof of status, it needs a statement from the local government agreeing to the applicant's use of the mark. > > [CNIPA reply of April 7, 2021](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=350711), translated by Ginbing ## An organization holds one certificate with two names and two seals: how does it apply? > Where the proof of status shows two names and two seals, choose one of the names as the applicant's name and apply the seal that corresponds to it. > > [CNIPA reply of October 12, 2022](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=408008), translated by Ginbing ## Can a company whose business license has been revoked still apply? > No. A sealed copy of a business license in normal status must be submitted. > > [CNIPA reply of February 14, 2022](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=384789), translated by Ginbing ## Can a company listed as operating abnormally apply? > It can file a trademark application. > > [CNIPA reply of July 15, 2020](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=330515), translated by Ginbing ## Can a company and an individual own a mark together? > Two or more natural persons, legal persons or other organizations may jointly apply to the Trademark Office to register the same trademark, and jointly enjoy and exercise the exclusive right. > > [CNIPA reply of May 20, 2022](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=394241), translated by Ginbing ## Can co-applicants' percentage shares be shown publicly? > A co-owned mark does not show the specific shares. > > [CNIPA reply of March 26, 2021](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=349720), translated by Ginbing ## Is the official fee for a co-owned mark the same as for one applicant? > Yes, it is the same. > > [CNIPA reply of July 14, 2021](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=360431), translated by Ginbing ## Is there a limit on how many marks a company may file? > There is no limit on the number of marks a company may register, but Article 4 of the Trademark Law provides that natural persons, legal persons or other organizations that need the exclusive right for their goods or services in their production and business activities shall apply to the Trademark Office to register. > To regulate filing and maintain normal order in trademark work, we will strengthen supervision of abnormal filing in accordance with the law. > > [CNIPA reply of January 23, 2019](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=23671), translated by Ginbing ## Does "patent agency" in a company's business scope restrict its trademark filings? > It is not restricted. > > [CNIPA reply of July 1, 2020](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=59847), translated by Ginbing ## Do marks registered before a company became a trademark agency stay valid? > Marks that have been registered remain valid. > > [CNIPA reply of August 29, 2019](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=40663), translated by Ginbing ## Can another company with the same legal representative as a trademark agency apply in other classes? > There is no restriction. > > [CNIPA reply of July 24, 2019](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=38039), translated by Ginbing ## Is a company with "intellectual property agency" in its scope limited even if it is not recorded as an agency? > Examination of a trademark application goes by the business scope on the business license the applicant provides. > > [CNIPA reply of June 29, 2020](https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/jact/front/mailpubdetail.do?sysid=13&transactId=59606), translated by Ginbing ## Related pages - [CNIPA's answers on filing and timing](/docs/china-trademark/cnipa-answers-filing-and-timing) - [CNIPA: Application FAQ](/docs/china-trademark/cnipa-guide-application-faq) - [What you need to file](/docs/china-trademark/filing-requirements)