I was approached by a Tanzanian entrepreneur named Asma, who runs a consulting firm in Shanghai. Her initial query revolved around the registration of her brand name, “Khakiworld.” She deliberated whether to register it under the name of her Chinese company or in her personal capacity.

 

Our advice was to register the trademark under her company’s name. Our rationale was straightforward: should a trademark infringement occur, it would be substantially simpler for her to initiate legal proceedings as a company rather than as an individual. For a foreign individual or enterprise to file a lawsuit against a Chinese entity, one must navigate the cumbersome process of obtaining an apostille, which includes legalization and notarization. This procedure not only incurs considerable expenses but also consumes valuable time. Such hassles could be circumvented from the outset.

 

The subsequent consideration was the appropriate class under which to register the trademark. Given that her company’s primary focus was consulting, we recommended Class 35. This category encompasses services such as displaying goods on communication media for retail purposes, commercial administration and organizational consulting, commercial evaluation, business information agency services, import and export agency, sales promotion on behalf of others, providing marketing information, and personnel management consulting.

 

Consequently, Asma formally engaged our services for the trademark registration on August 22, 2022. We proceeded with the official trademark application on August 26, 2022.

 

 

On April 4, 2023, we received confirmation from the trademark office that the registration was successful. Asma expressed her elation with the efficiency of our service.