Trademarks and trade names (the distinctive part of an enterprise name) belong to two different regimes: a trademark, once registered, confers a nationwide exclusive right on the approved goods or services; a trade name is a component of the enterprise name, acquired along with business entity registration, and its main function is to distinguish one business entity from another. Registering a company does not mean owning the trademark, and vice versa.
Different Sources and Natures of the Rights
- Trademark right: obtained by applying to the CNIPA and passing examination and registration; it is intellectual property and can be assigned, licensed, and pledged.
- Trade name right (enterprise name right): obtained through business entity registration with the market regulation authorities; it is a business identifier right of a personal-right nature, existing with the enterprise and incapable of being assigned separately from it.
Different Scopes of Protection
- Trademark: protected nationwide, but the scope of the right is limited to the classes of approved goods or services.
- Trade name: exclusive within the jurisdiction of the registration authority — others may not register an identical or similar trade name in the same jurisdiction — but cross-regional protection is relatively weak and requires recourse to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
Typical Conflicts in Practice
- An enterprise registers its trade name as a company, only to find that the same-name trademark was registered by someone else long ago — and launching its own product instead constitutes trademark infringement.
- Others squatting a well-known enterprise's trade name as a trademark, or registering a well-known trademark as a trade name, are common brand free-riding tactics.
Practical Advice
- When naming a startup, run both searches at the same time — business entity name availability and trademark similarity — to ensure the trade name and trademark can be unified.
- Once the brand name is finalized, advance trade name registration and trademark registration in parallel, keeping the trade name and trademark consistent, which benefits brand accumulation and enforcement.
- Even if the trade name has been registered as a company name, apply for trademark registration as early as possible: enterprise name registration cannot be asserted against a prior trademark right.
If you are facing the issues above, you may first engage trademark agency registration services on MyTMBee and confirm feasibility before deciding whether to file, so as to avoid wasting official fees on a blind application.