Patent Amendments ©(Part II of II)

The Greater China IP Updates ĄV December 2025

By Lyndon

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Enforcement of China’s Trademark Laws Benefits Local Fashion Industry

Although the top ten best-selling brands in China’s personal luxury market are all Western brands, accounting for 63 percent of the US 49 billion total, sales of Chinese brands are rising fast. Partly this can be attributed to a slowing economy, but it also signifies an increased interest in the expanding base of Chinese talent in design and manufacture. Meanwhile sales of Western brands have declined year on year with Gucci’s online sales falling by more than 50 percent and Michael Kors by about 40 percent. Even though China’s luxury market shrank by as much as 20 percent last year, local companies have been able to grow by selling online. Online retail platforms have been key to growth. As the economy cools, Chinese consumers are preferring to splash out with cheaper homegrown labels. A new niche has evolved with a heightened appreciation for a slower and more premium manufacturing process that is relayed to potential customers through localized marketing campaigns. In previous years, local talent focused on low cost manufacturing producing cheap goods or copies of foreign brands. Now, with trademark protections and enforcement getting tougher, a new generation of entrepreneurs is focusing on building their own quality brands with an Eastern sensibility. Five domestic prestige brands in handbags, apparel, fragrance, cosmetics and jewelry have outpaced seven foreign rivals in sales growth (but not sales volume) over the past two years. Thanks to e-commerce sales, online bag sales of the Songmont brand have increased by about 90% this year so far. Other Chinese labels such as makeup brand Mao Geping Cosmetics, perfumier brand To Summer and luxury clothing brand Icicle have pulled off similar feats in their categories. This strong growth should be understood in the context of relatively modest sales previously, but with e-commerce leading the way, revenues for some Chinese brands are on track to be on par or higher than overseas ones in the next few years: Laopu sold US 630 million in its Tmall store over 12 months through to December 2025, compared with US 57 million for Van Cleef & Arpells. Another factor is the lower prices of local brands that look premium. Shoppers have grown weary of the relentless price rises of western big name brands and have begun to pay attention to a new Chinese narrative of cultural pride, local craft, and Chinese identity that is easier to relate to. Ultimately, the owners of these companies hope to become global players. With only a few Chinese voices in the global fashion conversation, it’s looking increasingly likely that this generation of creatives backed with IP protection can change the playing field.

Invention and Utility Model Patent Grants Trend Downward in China

According to data released by China’s National intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), invention patent grants and utility model patent grants have slumped by 16.56% and 25.92% in the first three quarters of 2025 year-on-year. In the first nine months of 2025, invention patent grants dropped to 682,120 grants, a decrease of 135,360 grants. Utility model patent grants dropped to 1,118,935, a decrease of 391,442 grants. 53,412 invention patent grants were of foreign origin although this may be an over count as this statistic may include round trip investments via the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands (for example, Alibaba, despite having its headquarters in HangZhou, often files in the name of its Cayman entity). Only 3,402 of the 1,118,935 utility model grants were foreign-originated.

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