Renewing before the ten-year clock runs out

Your registration runs ten years from the registration date

A China trademark is registered for a term of ten years, counted from the registration date, not the application date. That term is set in Article 39 of the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China, and renewal is governed by the article that follows it. When the certificate issues at the end of the path through examination and publication, the ten-year clock starts on the registration date printed on it.

Ten years is the full life of one term, but renewal is not the only maintenance issue. Under Article 49, a registration may be challenged for cancellation after three consecutive years without justified use. Record the registration and expiry dates when the certificate arrives, and keep evidence of genuine use where the mark is used. For how the certificate is reached in the first place, see after you file.

The official source for the ten-year term, renewal window, non-use rule, and post-expiry buffer is Articles 39, 40, 49, and 50 of the 2019 Trademark Law.

Renewal extends the mark for another ten years

A China trademark can be renewed for successive ten-year periods, and there is no cap on how many times you renew. Each renewal extends protection for a further ten years, and the new term begins the day after the previous term ends, so the protection is continuous rather than reset. A mark that is renewed on schedule, term after term, can stay registered indefinitely.

Renewal does not re-examine the mark or restart its priority. It carries the same registration forward under the same registration number. That continuity is the point: the registration you renew keeps the rights, the date, and the place in line it already had.

You renew within the 12 months before expiry

The on-time window to file a renewal is the twelve months before the registration expires. CNIPA will not approve a renewal filed earlier than that, so there is no value in filing years ahead. The practical move is to put the expiry date on a calendar and treat the start of that final twelve-month window as the moment to act.

The renewal is filed with CNIPA, the same office that handles the original application. Foreign registrants without habitual residence or a place of business in China use a legally established trademark agency for this work. Check the current CNIPA fee and the Terms before arranging the renewal.

A six-month grace period follows, with extra cost

If you miss the twelve-month window, the registration is not immediately lost. Article 40 provides a grace period of six months after the expiry date, during which you can still renew. The grace period exists as a safety net, not as an extension you should plan around, because filing late inside it carries an additional fee on top of the standard renewal fee.

A lapsed registration can be cancelled and taken by someone else

If the grace period ends without renewal, CNIPA cancels the registration. Recovering protection normally requires a new application with a new filing date and a new examination.

Article 50 prevents approval of an identical or similar mark for identical or similar goods for one year after a registration is cancelled, invalidated, or expires without renewal. That buffer is not a renewal and does not preserve the old rights. After it passes, a later applicant can create a new first-to-file problem.

Renewal is a future date; filing is the thing to do now

Renewal is a real obligation, but it is a problem you only have if you own a registration in the first place. The ten-year clock cannot start until your mark is registered, and in a first-to-file system the cost of waiting to file is measured in marks that other people register first. The renewal date is years away. The filing date is today’s decision.

Record the registration date, calculate the expiry date, and schedule the start of the renewal window. Filing and renewal dates answer different questions, so keep both on the trademark record.