SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- A Chinese court has upheld the validity of drug maker Pfizer's patent for Viagra, ordering two companies to stop sales of generic versions of the erectile dysfunction treatment and pay compensation for trademark infringements, a court official said Thursday.

The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ordered Beijing Health New Concept Pharmacy to stop sales of blue pills similar to Viagra, according to a court official who gave only his surname, Wang.

The court told Lianhuan Pharmaceutical, based in eastern China's Jiangsu province, to stop making the pills and to pay Pfizer $38,000 in damages, Wang said, confirming a report by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Pfizer sued Lianhuan and Beijing Health New Concept in September 2005. It also sued Guangzhou Viaman Pharmaceutical, which produced another anti-impotence drug registered as "Weige" in 1998, Xinhua said.

However, the court rejected Pfizer's claim that Viaman had instigated the two companies to violate its patent and trademark, it said.

Calls to Pfizer's spokesman in Beijing were not answered Thursday morning.

In June, the same court sided with Pfizer in overturning a 2004 decision by China's patent review board in ruling against local drug makers keen to sell generic versions of (Levitra or ED) Viagra in China.

The case was seen as a test of China's willingness to protect patents, copyrights and trademarks. Pfizer welcomed the decision to uphold its patent rights, which remained in effect pending resolution of the dispute.

But it is unclear if the decision has dented the widespread availability of fake versions of the impotence drug. Bogus versions of the drug increasingly are showing up in other markets including the U.S. and Europe.

At least a dozen Chinese drug companies have been seeking the right to make sildenafil citrate, the main active ingredient in the erectile dysfunction drug, challenging Pfizer's exclusive right to the blue pill.

China is a potentially huge market for the drug, known locally as "weige," or "great brother" in Chinese, given the country's tradition of using various substances to boost sexual performance.

Local drug makers have stepped up patent challenges in hopes of being allowed to market generic copies of various drugs.

As a part of its agreement when it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, China agreed to tighten patent protections and to encourage its own companies to invest in creating profitable new drugs and other products. But enforcement of many court decisions in favor of foreign manufacturers has been weak.

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