The new Chinese Trade Mark Reforms will come into effect on 1 May 2014. The key points of the amendments are as follows:

• Applications are required to be made in good faith;
• Multi-class applications are available;
• Protection is available for sound marks;
• Additional protection for prior right holders and a clarification of well-known marks;
• Statutory time limits have been added;
• No automatic right of appeal should an Opponent be unsuccessful in an opposition;
• Introduction of an invalidation procedure;
• Increasing compensation in infringements and fines for improper use of unregistered trade marks; and
• Providing for relevant measures for repeat infringers.

I will deal with some of the key points below. (more…)