In a trademark case, how to collect evidence of the trademark’s popularity quickly and adequately and then strive for a more favourable trial or adjudication result is the most worrying issue for every trademark right holder. A clear and logical list of evidence collection can not only save the right holder's time in collecting evidence, but also achieve the purpose of collecting effective evidence, which is crucial for the formation of the evidence chain. However, evidence collection often faces the following problems:

 The evidence collected was unfocused, with all types of evidence listed in a general way, without primary or secondary importance, so that the examiners were unable to seize the effective evidence at first instance during the trial.

 Some of the lists are too standard, the list of lists is not consistent with the characteristics of the evidence of the industry in which the right holder operates, and the preparation of the list of evidence needs to take into account the characteristics of the actual industry of the client.

 In the process of collecting evidence, the right holder is often a multi-departmental collaboration of the company, and foreign companies even cross regions and countries, and the general catalogue of evidence increases the cost of internal communication of the right holder.

 Some foreign companies, whose trademarks are already well known abroad, have found it difficult to gather evidence of the trademark's popularity in China.

For the foreign right holder who has a high degree of recognition in the international market, the following types of evidence can be provided to the examiner, in the following order, to provide more direct and effective evidence of trademark recognition:

1. The category of the protected judgment instruments：

Preserving the "first case" evidence is very important.

For example, the record of protection of the right holder's trademark or the popularity of the trademark involved in the case, valid judgments, rulings, decisions and other legal documents, etc. (the strongest effect of the rulings made in the last three years of the case). When collecting such evidence, it is necessary to focus on the preservation and categorisation and integration of the adjudication documents that identify the duration of continuous use of the right holder's trademark, the scope of use, the sales volume, and the industry ranking.

2. Award Categories:

Medals and certificates from authoritative organisations are more prestigious.

For example, awards and certificates from national and international authorities and authoritative industry organisations. Provide information such as the name of the organisation that issued the award, the name of the award, the date of the award, etc., and can be verified through news reports or related public channels.

3. Brand Ranking Category:

Industry associations, organisations or industry authoritative media released brand awareness, brand value, market share and other industry rankings.

Such as domestic and international brand lists: Fortune 500 List, BrandZ, Brand Finance, GYbrand, Interbrand, World Brand Lab and other global authoritative brand value rankings, etc., should be provided at the same time as the basic situation of the organisation, the selection method and other introductory information.

4. Media coverage：

News coverage in mainstream media, newspapers and magazines, online media coverage, etc.

Such as search engines (e.g. Google, Baidu, etc.) on the goods attached to the trademark; media or public platforms on the trademark evaluation, e-commerce platforms (Taobao, Jingdong, etc.), third-party media (Xiaohongshu, Zhihu, microblogging, WeChat public number), etc.; even if it is an extraterritorial evidence, you can further collect supporting evidence to prove that it is able to know through the network, media, for the relevant public in China; library search is also a good channel. The above evidence needs to be categorised, the timeline clarified, distilled and described.

5. Advertising：

Evidence of advertisements and other promotional activities in major exhibitions, radio, film, television, newspapers, magazines, Internet, outdoor and other media. It is preferable to provide the advertising contract, payment receipts for advertising fees, invoices, the specific style of the advertisement (video or photo), the broadcast schedule of the advertisement, statistics on the amount of advertising on media platforms for the products related to the trademark applied for or the ranking of the advertising amount, as well as information on subsequent exhibitions, activities, news reports, etc. (not only limited to the domestic market).

6. Sales Vouchers：

Sales contracts and invoices should match, and purchase invoices from provincial vendors should be provided, one for each quarter of the year for each vendor. Information such as scope of sales, time, amount and counterparty is specifically distilled and listed one by one. Such evidence may be provided for a specific time period or geographic area, such as sales at the infringing party's address or business area, to demonstrate that the other party is clearly aware of the right holder's trademark. Evidence of e-commerce sales, distribution contracts signed on e-commerce platforms such as Jingdong and Tmall, corresponding VAT invoices, and evidence of trademark sales records, analysis and statistics, and sales rankings provided by the e-commerce company.

Foreign right holders may also provide evidence of import and export, such as customs declarations for import and export goods of the right holders' goods, entry-exit inspection and quarantine health certificates, import and export customs duty payment certificates and other import and export certificates containing the seal of the Chinese Customs.

For foreign right holders who are already well known in their home countries, but their trademarks and brands have just entered or are about to enter the Chinese market, and there is insufficient evidence of the right holders' use of their trademarks, sales and promotion of their products in China, how to provide more evidence of their popularity/use to support their case:

1) Creative origin of the trademark, design concept.

2) The earliest use of the right holder's trademark in China (or abroad) is much earlier than the filing date of the infringing party's trademark, which means that the other party's trademark is suspected of imitating, copying or translating the trademark used in the past; foreign customers can provide the date of establishment of the company in their own country and the date of registration to prove it.

3) Proof of effective registration of the right holder in China, the right holder's country or other countries and regions, and proof of continuous use of the trademark in China or internationally.

4) Collect large amounts of evidence from domestic media reports, online reviews by domestic users, and overseas and online purchases by domestic users to advocate the brand's popularity in China.

5) The foreign right holder in China to set up subsidiaries, branches of the business licence, certificate of approval, proof of capital relationship, can prove that uninterrupted business, must be combined with the sales, advertising trademark use evidence to prove. If the trademark right holder licensed to a third party company in China, the need to clarify the legal relationship between the trademark user and the trademark registrant, this relationship can be proved by the trademark licensing agreement, license application notice, trademark authorisation to use the letter, and provide proof of the qualifications of the trademark user, the current mail, etc.; invoices issued by foreign companies need to be notarised and certified abroad, bills of lading, bank statements, import and export vouchers, etc..