HFG listed in Top40 Foreign-Related TMK Agencies in China

On May 20, 2024, at the 146th INTA Chinese Trademark Association Forum held during the INTA Annual Meeting in Atlanta, USA, the Top40 List of Service Capabilities of Foreign-related Trademark Agencies was released. 

This ranking follows the "2024 Data Report on Trademark Protection of Foreign Enterprises in China", and is jointly published by China Trademark Association and IPHOUSE under the guidance of China Trademark Association.

The release of this list aims to provide decision-making reference for foreign enterprises seeking trademark service agencies in the Chinese market, and to help them carry out their IP-related work in China smoothly.

In fact, in the process of globalization, the Chinese market, as one of the largest consumer markets in the world, has attracted more and more foreign enterprises. Therefore, the foreign-related trademark agency industry, as an important intellectual property service field, is experiencing rapid development and change.

The Report mainly focuses on foreign enterprises' trademark applications and trademark disputes in China, and analyzes the degree of importance foreign enterprises attach to the Chinese market and the layout of their trademarks in China.

Data reveal that since 2000 the number of trademark applications filed by foreign companies in China has shown a steady upward trend, peaking in 2021 with a number of 258,000 applications. Although it declined after 2021, the annual number of applications remained above 200,000. 

By the end of 2023, the number of valid foreign trademarks registered in China reached over 2 million.

However, with the development of foreign enterprises in the Chinese market, the number of trademark dispute cases has increased. 81,000 trademark opposition and review cases were filed by foreign enterprises in 2023, and the number of dispute cases has been more than 80,000 in each of the past four years. This phenomenon highlights the importance and urgency of foreign enterprises' IPR protection in China.

The release of this list uses official data to establish a systematic evaluation model using more than ten indicators, such as the number of foreign-related trademark applications, foreign-related trademark opposition cases, foreign-related trademark evaluation cases, etc., to evaluate the trademark agencies that have been filed with the Trademark Office of the CNIPA, and ultimately screened out 40 foreign-related trademark agencies with the most outstanding performance.

The analysis presented at INTA can be downloaded here (in English) and here (in Chinese).