Chinese trademark law defines distinctiveness as any property of a trademark that indicates the origin of the goods and distinguishes it from the goods and services offered by other businesses. China’s laws consider distinctiveness to be the spirit of the trademark law and the central cog essential to the functioning of the trademark system.
Trademark distinctiveness has a close connection to the goods and services it represents. Distinctiveness cannot be considered in the abstract but must instead take the goods and services offered into consideration. The idea behind a logo and the signified goods and services must have a direct connection, not a weak or indirect one. The determination of whether a trademark is distinctive is based on the perspective of the consuming public in the relevant market, and not the personal opinion of the trademark examiner or judge. A mark is considered distinctive if the average consumer making ordinary purchases would recognize it as a trademark since an average consumer typically sees the trademark as a whole and does not focus on the small details. They are reasonably knowledgeable about what they are purchasing and are as careful as reasonably expected for that kind of good or service. A trademark is part of the private market economy, and therefore the context within which a trademark appears determines everything.
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