You designed a brand, found a Chinese factory, and are ready to produce. Then you learn someone in China already registered your name as a trademark. This is common, and it can do real damage — from detained shipments to a supplier who suddenly "owns" your brand. Here is the plain-English version.
China grants trademark rights largely to whoever files first, not to whoever used the name first abroad. A squatter — sometimes an unrelated party, sometimes your own supplier or a former partner — can register your brand in the relevant class before you do. Your foreign use and reputation do not automatically protect you inside China.
Manufacturers and buyers often assume that OEM/labelled goods made in China purely for export cannot infringe a Chinese mark. The judicial position has shifted: rather than a blanket exemption, courts now tend to judge these cases on their facts — looking at whether there is a prior Chinese registration, whether the mark performs a source-identifying function, the overseas party's title documents, and the manufacturer's duty of care. Where a prior third-party mark exists, the infringement risk is meaningfully elevated.
A Chinese registrant can record its mark with Customs and apply to detain goods bearing that mark. That means a squatter — or a disgruntled supplier — can potentially hold up your export shipment, not just sue you.
General information, not legal advice; PRC law only.