Amendments to the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China were recently adopted. Although these changes will not go into effect until May 1, 2014, there are many changes that will significantly alter trademark prosecution and enforcement in China.

Significant changes include:

1. Sound can be registered as a trademark.
2. The phrase "Well-known Trademark" can no longer be used on goods or advertisements.
3. Trademark applicants may file one application for registering the same trademark in multiple classes.
4.In order to accelerate trademark proceedings a number of time limits were included in the law, including (17.) trademark application – 9 months; (21.) review of official refusal - 9months; (22.) opposition proceeding – 12 months; 
5. If an opposition against a trademark application is unsuccessful, there will no longer be a review of opposition procedure.
6. Administrative penalties for trademark infringement were increased to up to 5 times the illegal business revenue and there are also increased penalties for bad faith.
7. Increase in the statutory compensation to CNY 3 million (about 500,000 U.S. dollars) - six times the previous limit. There also a number of provisions that aim to prevent bad faith applications.

For  further details regarding  to: http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/xinwen/2013-08/31/content_1805119.htm