Chinese courts affirmed 187 brands as "well-known" trademarks from 2002 to October 2006, which had contributed a lot to protecting the interests of trademark owners, a senior court official said Thursday.

The affirmation, based on the trademark law, aimed to provide a basis for the better protection of trademarks, said Cao Jianming, deputy head of the Supreme People's Court, at a meeting in Wuxi City, east China's Jiangsu Province.

Courts can set "well-known" trademarks when they deal with disputes about the trademarks, which are either illegally copied, registered again for products of different categories or involved in unfair competition, Cao explained.

Those labeled as "well-known" trademarks will get special legal protection, he said, without specify the protection in details.

He also pointed out that "well-known" trademarks are not set to pursue a good reputation or greater advertisement effect, but to facilitate case investigation and trial. Otherwise it will bring negative impact, he said.

He ordered courts to strictly check up trademark infringement cases and prevent anyone from seizing a "well-known" honor by deliberately creating a dispute.

Various parties concerned are demanded to provide the proof for the popularity of their trademarks, but courts can loosen control if the trademarks are already widely known in the market, he said.

The crackdown on trademark infringement is part of China's mass fight against violations of intellectual property right (IPR).

Statistics showed that China busted 40,171 trademark infringement and counterfeiting cases in 2004, and 5,401 cases involved foreign trademarks.

The number of trademark registrations has skyrocketed in the country since the enactment of the trademark law in 1982.

In 1983, less than 20,000 trademarks were registered on the mainland, with only 1,687 foreign applications. By 2004, the number of applications reached 588,000, making China the world leader in trademark registration.

(Xinhua)