What to Do When a Chinese Manufacturer Infringes Your IP

Freeze Communications and Preserve Evidence

Before accusing the manufacturer, preserve the record. In IP disputes, the useful evidence is not just a screenshot of a copied product. It is the complete chain showing what you created, what you shared, what the factory received, and what they later used or sold.

• Product drawings, CAD files, brand guidelines, packaging files, mould/tooling records, and sample photos.
• Contracts, purchase orders, NNN agreements, OEM agreements, and any confidentiality clauses.
• Email, WeChat, WhatsApp, platform chat, and file transfer records showing what was disclosed to the manufacturer.
• Marketplace listings, websites, social media posts, catalogue pages, and trade fair booth photos showing the suspected infringement.
• China trademark, patent, copyright, or design registration documents if you already have them.

Identify Which IP Right Is Actually Involved

"They copied my product" is a commercial description, not a legal category. The first legal question is which right has been infringed, because the enforcement path is different for each one.

• Trademark: the manufacturer uses your brand name, logo, packaging mark, or a confusingly similar mark.
• Design patent: the copied product has the same or similar external appearance.
• Copyright: product photos, catalogues, packaging artwork, manuals, or digital content are copied.
• Trade secrets or confidential know-how: the manufacturer uses technical information, customer data, tooling files, or formulas shared under confidentiality.
• Contract breach: the factory may not have infringed a registered IP right, but may have breached an NNN, OEM, exclusivity, or tooling ownership clause.

Check China Registrations Before Making Demands

A foreign trademark, design registration, or copyright record may help your story, but it does not automatically solve the problem inside China. Before sending a legal demand, check whether your rights are registered in China, whether the manufacturer or a related party has filed anything first, and whether your contracts fill any gap.

For trademarks, foreign applicants can apply through China's official trademark system or through a recorded Chinese agency. For border enforcement, China Customs also provides an IP protection recordal system that can help detain suspected infringing import or export goods where the right has been properly recorded.

• The manufacturer registered your logo or brand in China before you did.
• The factory is selling your design under a different brand.
• Your contract says tooling belongs to you, but the mould is kept by the factory.
• Your NNN agreement was signed by the wrong entity or lacks a practical enforcement clause.

Use a Local Lawyer Before the Manufacturer Moves Assets or Listings

The value of local counsel is speed and pressure. A Guangzhou-based lawyer can review Chinese company records, identify the correct legal entity, check related companies, communicate in Chinese, and send a formal demand that the factory understands as a real local risk rather than a distant overseas complaint.

A local lawyer can also avoid a common mistake: sending a demand to the sales contact instead of the registered legal entity, the legal representative, or the company that actually owns the factory, tooling, bank account, or marketplace store.

Choose the Right Pressure Channel

Different IP problems require different pressure channels. The wrong channel wastes time and may alert the manufacturer before your evidence is ready.

• Lawyer's letter: useful when the manufacturer is identifiable and may respond to local legal pressure.
• Platform takedown: useful for Alibaba, Amazon, social commerce, or independent marketplaces when listings are active.
• Manufacturer negotiation: useful for recovering moulds, stopping sales, getting undertakings, or agreeing a settlement.
• Market regulator or administrative complaint: useful when there is clear local misconduct and a regulator can create pressure.
• Customs recordal and enforcement: useful where infringing goods are being exported and the IP is eligible for recordal.
• Arbitration or litigation: appropriate for higher-value cases, repeated infringement, or where contract clauses provide a clear forum.

The practical strategy is often layered: preserve evidence, verify the company, send a formal demand, pursue platform action, and escalate only if the manufacturer refuses to cooperate.

Prevent the Same Problem in the Next Order

The best IP enforcement plan is prevention before disclosure. If you are about to work with a Chinese manufacturer, take these steps before sending drawings, samples, or tooling money.

• File key trademarks in China early, especially brand names and logos used on products or packaging.
• Consider design patent protection for distinctive product appearance before public disclosure.
• Use a China-focused NNN agreement, not a generic foreign NDA.
• Make tooling ownership, mould access, exclusivity, subcontracting, and penalty clauses explicit in the manufacturing contract.
• Verify the contracting party, factory entity, bank account, and company chop before paying for tooling or production.

If the manufacturer already has your files and the relationship is deteriorating, act before the dispute becomes public. Once copied products appear on multiple platforms, the response becomes more expensive and slower.