Although China has made significant progress in trademark and brand development, there is still room for improvement. In line with this, the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy submitted a proposal to the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), highlighting the importance of strengthening these two areas to promote high-quality economic growth.

He Zhimin, member of the 14th CPPCC National Committee and deputy director of the National Intellectual Property Administration. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

The proposal highlights that comprehensive support from intellectual property, such as trademarks, patents and geographical indications, is essential for brand development. The trademark system serves as the foundation for improving legal protection of brands, achieving brand market value and unleashing brand social benefits. However, despite the CPC Central Committee and the State Council's significant efforts in developing trademarks and brands in recent years, there are still issues that require further research and action.

The first problem, the proposal pointed out, is the insufficient attention given to trademark and brand development by entities. 

He Zhimin, CPPCC member, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy, and deputy director of the National Intellectual Property Administration, who is attending the annual CPPCC meeting in Beijing, took part in the research and creation of the proposal. 

"Some companies have inadequate awareness of trademarks and brands, low levels of intellectual property management, and limited investment in brand building and intellectual property protection," he told China.org.cn. "This not only affects brand recognition and value but also leads to significant economic losses and high litigation costs due to trademark disputes, which can impede normal business operations and planning."

The national political advisor highlighted a range of challenges facing enterprises in terms of trademark protection: Time-honored enterprises frequently face trademark infringement and counterfeiting, while specialized and innovative enterprises may encounter obstacles going public due to trademark disputes; large state-owned enterprises often encounter trademark squatting when expanding their domestic and foreign businesses; and traditional manufacturing enterprises struggle to establish new brands during transformation and upgrading. These challenges are compounded by overseas registration and licensing, as outlined in the CPPCC proposal he helped to create. 

Furthermore, the proposal underscores the urgent need to protect trademarks for regional brands. Unfortunately, many regions do not recognize the importance of registering regional brand trademarks and fail to utilize their trademarks effectively. Therefore, it is critical to establish collective trademarks and certification marks to enhance regional brands and foster industrial transformation and upgrading.

"In recent years, the National Intellectual Property Administration has taken a strong stance against malicious trademark squatting. However, the frequent occurrence of this behavior reflects weak awareness of trademarks and branding among many enterprises," he stressed. "Improper operation and management of enterprise trademarks can result in their degeneration into generic names or being revoked due to non-use for three consecutive years." 

"Furthermore, the lack of a trademark risk prevention and control mechanism can lead to increasing losses due to unreasonable handling of trademark disputes. Therefore, all enterprises should prioritize brand awareness and incorporate trademark management into their entire process of brand cultivation, utilization, protection and promotion to avoid any negative impact on their normal operation and development."

To optimize the legal environment for the development of trademarks and brands, the proposal recommends revising the Trademark Law and the regulations regarding its implementation. This should be done from the perspectives of various responsible entities such as the state, business entities and local governments. Clauses should be established to encourage and promote the construction of trademarks and brands, and brand building should be incorporated into the rule of law, He Zhimin said. 

In addition, he suggests overcoming obstacles in the management system and mechanism of trademarks and brands: "The relevant management systems, such as local intellectual property, brand building, market supervision and industrial development, are still fragmented, making it difficult to form effective synergy."

He suggested strengthening the top-level design of brand building, with local governments coordinating with relevant departments to establish a mechanism that promotes the coordinated development of brand, innovation, market and industry. Additionally, trademark and brand innovation and entrepreneurship bases, as well as market-oriented trademark and brand development funds, should be established according to local conditions. Furthermore, to meet the needs of business entities, it is essential to develop high-quality teams of trademark and brand service providers. This can be achieved by expanding the coverage and improving the quality of services provided by trademark and brand guidance stations, increasing the supervision of trademark agencies, and nurturing comprehensive brand operation agencies.

The senior intellectual property official also expressed concern about the value and international reputation of Chinese brands. The proposal he contributed to noted the lack of a transparent and scientifically sound evaluation system and standards for assessing Chinese trademark and brand value. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index, China's brand value ranked only 18th in the world in 2022, which is disproportionate to its status as the world's second-largest economy. Additionally, foreign countries monopolize the pricing and discourse of brand value. Most internationally recognized trademark and brand value ranking lists are published by commercial institutions in English-speaking countries, leaving China without a credible and globally influential brand value ranking system.

A file photo shows a sign for a China Brand Day expo event in Shanghai in 2021. [Photo/VCG]

He suggested creating a brand value enhancement campaign, outlining the following steps: "First, we need to strengthen the management of enterprise trademark brands by upgrading and optimizing the management mechanism of intellectual property and brand combination. This will guide enterprises to leverage the combined effects of various types of intellectual property such as trademarks and patents, thereby promoting product and service upgrades and enhancing the core competitiveness of enterprise brands." 

"Second, we must cultivate regional brands with distinctive advantages. To achieve this, we should support regional brand industry organizations, such as industry associations, to carry out collective trademark and certification mark registration, management, application and protection work. Additionally, we must strengthen the quality assurance of regional brands, explore their cultural connotations, and use them to participate in domestic and international market competition. This approach will help us reconstruct the industrial chain and upgrade the value chain."

Third, he proposed strengthening trademark brand guidance services. Fourth, he suggested exploring the development of a trademark brand value evaluation system with unique Chinese characteristics. This would involve benchmarking international standards for brand value evaluation and encouraging local governments and social organizations to conduct research into trademark brand value. The use of technologies like artificial intelligence and big data would enable the development of objective and scientific trademark brand evaluation tools. Additionally, the creation of an independent and authoritative brand value ranking list in China would boost China's international influence and pricing power in the field.

"Finally, we must bolster Chinese brands," he concluded. "We should support enterprises in expanding their trademark presence overseas, establish national-level brand promotion platforms, and guide them in developing international strategies. Large-scale events such as the China International Import Expo and China Brand Day can be used to showcase Chinese brands to the international market and promote the internationalization of Chinese products and services."