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International treaties tend not to define a well－known trademark but rather choose to provide several factors for their Member States to determine whether a particular mark is‘well－known’．
[1]
The‘Joint Recommendation Concerning Provisions on the Protection of Well－Known Marks’（hereinafter referred to as ‘Joint Recommendation’）features as ‘the first implementation of WIPO's policy to adapt to the pace of change in the field of industrial property by considering new options for accelerating the development of international harmonized common principles’．
The thrust of the Joint Recommendation was to support‘each Member State of the Paris Union or of WIPO'to engage with the well－known trademark issues‘in accordance，
mutatis mutandis
，with the provisions contained herein’．
The Joint Recommendation，although formally only a recommendation，should be understood as an important supplement to the Paris Convention（and later the TRIPs Agreement）regarding the protection of well－known trademarks．It reflects WIPO's efforts to standardize well－known trademark protection and has been largely adopted by its Member States，including China．Most of the rules providing for well－known trademark recognition and protection under Chinese Trademark Law，and the corresponding national interpretations and regulations，are in line with the Joint Recommendation．The Joint Recommendation exerts a positive influence in shaping this concept through regulating some factors for the recognition．This part will demonstrate some of these factors．
The Joint Recommendation provides that it is sufficient for a mark to be counted as a well－known mark if the mark in question becomes
well known
‘in at least one relevant sector of the public in a Member State’．
Likewise，a Member State
may
accord well－known trademark protection to a trademark which has been
known
‘in at least one relevant sector of the public in a Member State’．
Accordingly，under the Joint Recommendation，the level of knowledge of a trademark has a close connection with the level of protection it can obtain．Simply put，the better known it is the greater protection it receives．
However，there are exceptions．For instance，a Member State‘may determine that a mark is a well－known mark，even if the mark is not well known or．．．known，in any relevant sector of the public of the Member State’．
The Joint Recommendation explains the intention is to set‘a minimum standard of protection，and．．．Member States are free to afford protection to marks that are，for example，well known only outside the State in which protection is sought’．
Therefore，subject to a minimum requirement，it is up to Member States to decide criteria for well－known trademark protection in each country，
[2]
and the knowledge of a well－known trademark amongst the relevant public is not an essential factor for well－known trademark recognition，although most countries including China have set forth certain factors which a well－known trademark needs to fulfil．
[1] Yanbin Guo，‘The Analysis on Recognition and Cancellation Policy of Well－Known Trademark in China’（2009）30（1） Journal ofShaoguan University （Social Science）79．
[2] Yiming Gu， ‘A Study on International Model of Well－Known Trademark Recognition and Protection’（2009）7 Academic Research 85，86．（Gu argued that the Joint Recommendation actually did not provide any solid clues which Member States could reply on to decide well－known trademarks in art．2 and art．3）．