Chinese Manufacturer Copying Your Product? Know Your Legal Options in China

Is Your Chinese Manufacturer Copying Your Product?

Is your Chinese manufacturer copying your product design or selling similar products to your competitors? What happens if the supplier makes small changes and claims it is a different design? Can a Chinese factory legally manufacture and sell a product that looks almost identical to yours?

These questions usually arrive with the same evidence: a listing on a marketplace, a competitor's catalogue, or a message from another buyer. The answer depends far less on how similar the products look to you than on three things — what rights you hold in China, when they came into existence, and what the manufacturing agreement says.

What Protection Do You Actually Hold in China?

Intellectual property rights are territorial. A design registration, patent, or trademark obtained in your home country does not by itself give you rights in China, and a US or EU design registration cannot be enforced against a Chinese factory.

The rights that may be relevant are: a Chinese design patent (外观设计专利) covering the appearance of the product; a Chinese trademark registration covering the brand applied to it; copyright in drawings, photographs, and technical materials; trade secrets in non-public technical information; and the contract with the manufacturer itself.

A Chinese design patent is granted after examination of formal requirements rather than substantive novelty, and it must be renewed annually. Its term is 15 years from the filing date under the current Patent Law. If no Chinese design patent was filed, the question becomes whether one can still be filed — and that depends on whether the design has already been made public.

When the Supplier Changes the Design Slightly

A common assumption is that altering a curve, a colour, or a small feature avoids infringement. That is not how the assessment works.

Under Chinese law, the scope of a design patent is determined by the design as shown in the drawings, and infringement is assessed by comparing the overall visual effect from the perspective of an ordinary consumer. Where differences are minor and do not change the overall visual impression, a court may still find that the design falls within the protected scope. Conversely, where the differences are substantial, a claim may fail even if the products look related.

Because this is a factual assessment, no lawyer can tell you in advance that a particular modified product infringes. What can be assessed is the strength of the drawings, the closeness of the products, and the evidence available to prove the connection to the factory.

Design Patent Infringement and Breach of Contract

Where a supplier sells your product to other buyers, two routes often exist in parallel: an intellectual property claim based on the Chinese design patent, and a contract claim based on the manufacturing agreement.

The contract route does not depend on holding a patent. Clauses that may support a claim include exclusivity, restrictions on selling to third parties, ownership of tooling and molds, ownership of design files, confidentiality and non-use obligations, and non-circumvention undertakings. Where the agreement is thin or exists only in emails and quotations, the practical question is what can be proven about the terms actually agreed.

A third route may apply where non-public technical information was used: trade secret protection under the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. This requires that the information was not public, that reasonable confidentiality measures were taken, and that the information was obtained or used improperly.

Evidence to Gather Before Taking Any Step

Chinese proceedings are document-driven, and evidence collected early is far more useful than evidence reconstructed later.

Useful material includes: the design patent certificate and drawings, with the filing date; dated design files showing when the drawings were created and shared with the factory; the manufacturing agreement, purchase orders, and any exclusivity or non-circumvention terms; proof of the copying, such as a purchase of the competing product with an invoice, screenshots showing the URL and date, or export records; and correspondence with the supplier about the design and its use.

Where the infringing products are sold online, a notarized purchase or a timestamped record of the page is often more persuasive than an ordinary screenshot. Evidence located outside China may need notarization and legalization before it can be used in a Chinese court.

What Remedies May Be Available

Depending on the rights and evidence, the options may include a cease-and-desist letter, an administrative complaint to the market supervision authority, civil litigation seeking an injunction and damages, or customs measures where goods are being exported.

In patent litigation, damages may be calculated by reference to the loss suffered by the rights holder, the profit gained by the infringer, or a statutory award where neither can be established. The current Patent Law provides for statutory damages and for increased awards in cases of intentional infringement, but the amount in any individual case depends on the evidence presented.

Where counterfeit goods bearing a registered trademark are involved, the matter may also be referred for criminal investigation if the threshold for criminal liability is met. This is a separate procedure with its own evidentiary standard and is not a substitute for civil action.

A Practical Sequence

The order of steps matters more than the speed of the first letter. A workable sequence is: confirm which Chinese rights exist and whether they are in force; secure the evidence of the competing product and its link to the factory; review the contract for obligations independent of IP; then decide between negotiation, a formal demand, an administrative complaint, or litigation.

Sending a strongly worded demand before the evidence is secured can sometimes prompt a supplier to remove listings or move production, which makes later proof harder. Equally, waiting too long has costs: claims for damages are subject to limitation periods, and the commercial value of the market may erode while a decision is pending.

Common Mistakes Foreign Businesses Make

Disclosing the design publicly before filing a Chinese application, which can destroy novelty and close off the patent route. Assuming a foreign registration covers China. Treating a signed NDA as sufficient without any registration. Naming the trading company in correspondence when production is carried out by a different entity. And relying on screenshots or chat messages without preserving them in a form a Chinese court will accept.

How a China-Based IP Lawyer Can Help

A China-based intellectual property lawyer can review the Chinese design patent, assess whether the competing product falls within its scope, review the manufacturing agreement for independent contractual claims, and set out the realistic options with their cost and timing.

Michael Ma assists international businesses with Chinese supplier disputes, design and trademark protection, manufacturing contracts, and commercial litigation in China.

Contact: lawyermichaelcn@outlook.com | Phone: +86 158 1078 8943

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information as of November 2026 and is not legal advice. Whether a design falls within the scope of protection, and what remedies are available, depends on the specific drawings, evidence, contract terms, and procedure.