How to Fill In the Trademark Application Form

The key points for filling in the trademark application form are: the applicant's name and address must be exactly consistent with the entity's certificate; goods/service items must be written in the standard terms of the Classification of Similar Goods and Services; the trademark specimen must be clear and the type correctly indicated; and signatures or seals must be complete. Non-standard completion is the most common reason for correction notices.

Item-by-Item Instructions

1. Applicant name: must be exactly consistent with the business license or ID card—not even a punctuation mark may differ. Copy brackets and suffixes in the company name exactly as they appear.
2. Applicant address: fill in the address registered on the certificate; a foreign-language address must be accompanied by a Chinese translation.
3. Trademark description: describe the mark's constituent elements and meaning; for device marks, briefly describe the design elements; special types such as sound and three-dimensional marks must be described as required.
4. Class and goods items: first select the class (Classes 1–45), then choose standard goods names from the Classification of Similar Goods and Services. Each class is limited to 10 standard items, with surcharges for extra items. Self-coined, non-standard names are likely to trigger corrections.
5. Trademark type: tick ordinary, collective, or certification mark, as well as special types such as three-dimensional marks, color combinations, and sounds.
6. Priority: if claiming priority, fill in the country, filing date, and application number of the earlier application.

Online Filing vs. Paper Filing

For online filing, entries are made item by item in the CNIPA online service system and the specimen is uploaded; for paper filing, the standard form is printed and then signed or sealed. The official fee for online filing is lower (CNY 270 per class) and circulation is faster.

Common Mistakes

• The applicant name is inconsistent with the certificate (e.g., missing "Co., Ltd.").
• Goods items use colloquial or self-coined names.
• The specimen is attached incorrectly, blurred, or the wrong size.
• The trademark type is not ticked, or agency information is omitted.

Reminder

Once submitted, the contents of the application form in principle cannot be modified (only individual typographical errors may be corrected upon request), so check every item carefully before submission.

If you are unsure about the issues above, you can first do a self-service registration on MyTMBee and act only after obtaining an analysis from a CNIPA-recorded agent.