Following a recent meeting with judges of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, the Court has established the criterions to evaluate whether Chinese trademarks containing the character “国” - “national” in English - should be approved for registration. Unlike what happened in the past, the Court has opened to the possibility of allowing the registration of trademarks containing the "国" element by applying less strict parameters. The limitation still remains in all cases in which a trademark leads to a likelihood of confusion among consumers and creates misleading connection between the goods and the Chinese origin of the same, especially in the case of the sign being formed by the Chinese expression "国" closely related to the product name and distinguished service (eg. "国 茶 national tea).