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Why foreign applicants must use a CNIPA-recorded agency

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TLDR
Foreign applicants without habitual residence or a place of business in China must use a legally established trademark agency. Ginbing’s self-service product is for applicants outside mainland China and uses its own CNIPA-recorded agency.

A foreign person without habitual residence in China, or a foreign enterprise without a place of business in China, must file through a trademark agency. A recorded agency appears on CNIPA’s public agency register.

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When Article 18 makes the agency mandatory

申请商标注册或者办理其他商标事宜，可以自行办理，也可以委托依法设立的商标代理机构办理。外国人或者外国企业在中国申请商标注册和办理其他商标事宜的，应当委托依法设立的商标代理机构办理。

A person may register a trademark or handle other trademark matters on their own, or appoint a trademark agency established under the law. A foreign national or foreign enterprise registering a trademark or handling other trademark matters in China must appoint a trademark agency established under the law.

Trademark Law of the PRC (2019 revision), Article 18

Article 18 states the agency rule. Article 5 of the Implementing Regulations defines the foreign persons and enterprises covered by that rule. CNIPA’s current foreign-applicant guide explains the direct-filing route for a foreign national with habitual residence in China. Read the 2019 Trademark Law, the Implementing Regulations, and CNIPA foreign-applicant guide.

A recorded agency is on CNIPA’s official register

A “legally established trademark agency” is one recorded on CNIPA’s official agency register. Being a lawfully formed company is not enough; the entity has to be on that register before it can act for you.

You can choose any recorded agency. Check the Chinese entity name on the public register before payment and confirm that the same entity will submit the application rather than passing it to an unnamed third party.

Verify Ginbing’s current agency record

Ginbing LLC operates the customer-facing product. Its China operating company, Ginbing (Suzhou) Technology Co., Ltd. (金并（苏州）科技有限公司), is listed on CNIPA’s public trademark-agency record.

You do not have to take that on trust. Confirm the record yourself:

  1. Open CNIPA’s public agency inquiry.
  2. Search for 金并（苏州）科技有限公司.
  3. Confirm the entity appears on the official agency record.
  4. Check that your filing is handled by that entity, not an unknown third party.

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