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China Leads EUIPO Trade Mark Filings. Who Gets the Legal Work?

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September 10, 2026

China remains the largest single country of origin for EU trade mark applications filed with the EUIPO. That already puts Chinese companies into European legal processes, and the work becomes more valuable when a routine filing turns into an opposition, an enforcement issue or a dispute over an existing right.

In the first half of 2026, the EUIPO received a record 166,214 trade mark and design applications. Chinese trade mark filings fell by 12.4% and design filings by 3.3%, but those figures measure new applications during six months. Disputes, evidence-of-use cases and enforcement work draw on a much larger pool of rights filed over many years.

Chinese filings already bring work to European specialists

The EUIPO received 104,263 trade mark applications in the first half of 2026, up 8.4% year on year, and 61,951 design applications, down 1%. China remained the largest single country of origin for trade mark filings and accounted for 28.5% of all design applications, ahead of Germany, Italy and the United States.

China does not file more applications than the EU member states combined. For European firms, the relevant point is that no other single country sends more trade mark applications to the EUIPO.

There is also a direct link to European professional services. Anyone can file an EU trade mark application, but once the application has been filed, an applicant without a domicile, principal place of business or genuine commercial establishment in the EEA must appoint a representative before the Office.

In practice, that work does not always create a direct relationship between the Chinese owner and the European firm. A company in China may instruct a Chinese agency, which then works with a lawyer or trade mark attorney in Spain, Germany or Poland. The European specialist handles the EUIPO work while the Chinese intermediary retains the client relationship.

For the European firm, the relationship becomes more valuable when the client comes directly with a case that requires judgement, experience and strategy.

The more valuable work starts when the case stops being routine

The basic online fee for an EU trade mark application is €850 for one class. Filing itself is highly standardised, with strong price competition.

Consider a Chinese electronics manufacturer that has registered its marks for several years through a local agency. A competitor then files an opposition, the company is asked to prove genuine use, or counterfeit products begin appearing in Europe.

The case now requires someone to assess the other side’s position, gather evidence and decide how to respond. Depending on the problem, that can involve defending the mark, negotiating with another rights holder, working with customs authorities or coordinating enforcement across more than one country.

These cases put more weight on the adviser’s experience, knowledge of European procedures and ability to resolve the problem quickly.

The same applies to older rights. An EU trade mark may become vulnerable to revocation after five years without genuine use, while the business behind the mark may have changed substantially in the meantime. A Chinese company that started with a few products on a marketplace may later have distributors, a broader portfolio and sales across several European markets.

Chinese clients start with the problem in Chinese

This is the part we see from the Chinese side at EnterChina.

A Chinese owner dealing with a trade mark problem typically starts with the issue itself, expressed in Chinese:

What should I do if someone opposes my EU trade mark?
How do I prove that my mark has been used in Europe?
How can I stop counterfeit goods at the border?
Who can represent my company before the EUIPO?

Those questions lead through Chinese search terms, Chinese-language business and legal content, domestic platforms and AI tools.

Many strong European IP firms describe themselves for a different audience. Their websites are in Spanish, German, Polish or English, their pages are structured around legal practice areas, and their credentials assume that the visitor already understands what type of specialist they need.

The gap is visible from the Chinese side. A firm may have exactly the right EUIPO experience and still be difficult to identify from the Chinese-language information available around the problem.

From China, even highly qualified European firms can be difficult to identify and contact.

What EUIPO data means for European firms

**EUIPO counts applications, not client relationships. The commercial question for European IP firms is which specialist a Chinese owner can identify when a case requires European legal expertise.

EnterChina presents European B2B service providers to Chinese companies planning or expanding their operations in Europe. On the Chinese-language Xijinmenhu (西进门户) platform, their services are available in Chinese, together with a route for first contact.**

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