BEIJING - The New York Knicks may have given Jeremy Lin his break in the NBA, but a sports ball maker in eastern China saw potential in the Harvard-educated Chinese-American more than a year and a half ago - and quietly registered his trademark for US$700 (S$882).

The issue is the latest in a series of China trademark troubles for Western sports stars and companies that have ensnared American icons ranging from basketball star Michael Jordan to Apple's iPad in recent disputes.

Registering is cheap and relatively easy, and since Chinese law favours those who register trademarks first, squabbles over them can prove thorny to unravel, legal experts said.

Lin, 23, the son of Taiwanese immigrants who had been cut by two National Basketball Association teams before getting his chance with the Knicks, rocketed from obscurity to worldwide celebrity this season, coming off the bench to spark a team that had been forced to play without its top players.

But before Lin got hot, in July 2010, Wuxi Risheng Sports Utility Co, which makes about one million basketballs, volleyballs and soccer balls a year, registered his name as a trademark.

The company applied to trademark a variation of Lin's name," Lin Shuhao (in Chinese characters) Jeremy S.H.L. (initials of Lin's Chinese name)", according to the website of the trademark office of China's State Administration of Industry and Commerce.

The application was approved in August, with the company paying just 4,460 yuan ($710) for the rights and creating a headache for Lin and his corporate partner Nike, with which he signed a three-year contract in 2010.

Nike and Lin could not be reached for immediate comment.

China's relatively relaxed trademark policies could prove costly for Lin, whose $800,000 salary this season is modest by NBA standards. Forbes SportsMoney said on its online edition that he is worth $15 million.

"In China, first-to-register gets the rights. You may have an idea, and you can register its trademark without ever using it.