Is "Handmade Noodles" considered a trademark? A well-known leading company: produced on workshop assembly lines.

On March 30, according to Nanjing Zero Distance.

Nanjing consumer Mr. Chen

Recently, after buying Jinmailang “Hand-pulled Noodles”

because he questioned the product promotion since he couldn’t taste a handmade noodle texture,

Jinmailang responded that

“Hand-pulled” is only a registered trademark

and has nothing to do with handmade craft.

Image source: E-commerce images

According to consumer reports, on the packaging of this Jinmailang noodle, the four Chinese characters “Hand-pulled Noodles” are prominently and clearly highlighted. Next to them is the promotional slogan “Looks like Mom’s Hand-pulled Noodles,” which can easily lead consumers to associate “hand-pulled” with traditional handmade production techniques. However, on the packaging, the two characters “hand-pulled” have a small-font note of the ® symbol at the upper right, indicating a trademark. Jinmailang staff then replied to the media that “noodles are an industrial product; they are produced on an assembly-line in the workshop. ‘Hand-pulled’ is just a name.”

This consumer purchased the product at a supermarket. Meanwhile, the reporter from The Interface (Jiemian) who searched e-commerce platforms also found that multiple e-commerce sellers are offering this Jinmailang product. Its outer packaging is green, with a net weight of 1,000 grams per package. The white-font “hand-pulled noodles” is located in the middle of the front of the packaging, in a prominent position, and the product is also divided into different varieties, such as dragon beard noodles, pulled noodles, and wide noodles. However, on Jinmailang’s official flagship store at present, this product is not listed. When searching for “hand-pulled,” only one product—hand-pulled fresh pink—appears to be on sale.

According to Tianyancha’s intellectual property information, between 2004 and 2023, Jinmailang Food Co., Ltd. gradually registered multiple trademarks containing the “hand-pulled” wording, which fall under the convenience food category.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time Jinmailang

has gotten into a dispute related to “hand-pulled” signage

As early as 2018, according to a report by the China Consumers Association, consumer Xu Gang bought a “Jinmailang, Hualong series hand-pulled noodles” product from the Hanyang branch of Wuhan Hanfu Supermarket Co., Ltd., totaling RMB 1,121.1. Then, claiming that the noodles in the purchased product are ordinary machine-made dried noodles rather than handmade noodles, he filed a lawsuit with the court. In the end, the court found that the product labels violated the Food Safety Law and ordered the seller to “return one and pay ten,” requiring the seller to compensate the consumer more than RMB 11,000.

Years later, similar situations reappeared

The controversy over Jinmailang “hand-pulled noodles” is also not a one-off case

“Scheming trademarks” are frequent in the food sector

It exposes that some food companies

still have the inertia of “playing it by the edges”

in trademark use and product promotion

A previous report from Xiaofang said that on the packaging of Xiangbai Duobandai noodles and Duobancup noodles products, the word “more than half” (“more than half”) is shown as a registered trademark; (Details ↓)

Xiangbai Duobandai noodles. Photo/ screenshot from social media platforms

Pantene’s “Three-minute miracle” shampoo product has small text on its back stating that “three-minute miracle” is a registered trademark, and the product name is not a claim of efficacy, which also sparked widespread public discussion. (Details ↓)

Qianhe Flavor Industry Food Co., Ltd. saw its market value evaporate by more than RMB 1 billion within a few days after being pulled into the “0 additives” controversy. In a related statement afterward, Qianhe Flavor Industry said that “Qianhe 0” is the company’s registered trademark, and it is used on approved goods in accordance with the Trademark Law. (Details ↓)

Netizens weigh in

At the legal level, the Trademark Law clearly states that marks that are deceptive and easily cause the public to misperceive characteristics such as product quality may not be used as trademarks; even if already registered, their use must still follow the principle of good faith. The Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Food Labeling further require that food labeling must not deceive or mislead consumers, and that labels for prepackaged food should state names that reflect true attributes.

Li Bo, Director of the Trademark Department at the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade’s Patent and Trademark Affairs Center, said that the “Trademark Examination and Adjudication Guidelines” have already become extremely detailed and list many kinds of circumstances. But as there are millions of trademark applications, situations keep emerging. Trademark registration must have objective standards, but examiners also make subjective judgments, and everyone’s standards may not be the same.

In addition, some applicants may also intentionally evade examination by splitting trademarks, etc. For example, a product name like “Beef jerky ‘Yipin Niu’” is suspected of registering “Yipin Niu” separately, and then having sellers combine and use it, creating a misleading effect of “pork jerky turning into beef jerky.”

There are all kinds of tricks and schemes. The quality of review by the national authority is improving, but sometimes the higher the wall, the higher the ladder—there are still unforeseeable situations.

In March 2026, the National Intellectual Property Administration specifically issued the “Notice on Strengthening the Management of Trademark Use,” which clearly called for focused governance of behaviors that combine registered trademarks with product names, advertising copy, and other wording, leading the public to misperceive characteristics such as product quality, origin, and craftsmanship. The Trademark Law, currently being revised, will also tighten from three aspects: the source of examination, use supervision, and the intensity of penalties, substantially compressing the survival space for these kinds of “scheming trademarks.”

A commentary from China Youth Daily stated that attempting to “fool” consumers with small cleverness only depletes consumers’ trust, and the ultimate damage to interests still falls on the same party. Reject marketing gimmicks that exaggerate and mislead; put more effort into refining products and providing better service—only then can you truly gain consumers’ recognition and support.

So, what do you think about this?

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