Intellectual Property Registration
We register your brand, your creative work, your invention and your product design with IPO-Pakistan — trademarks, copyright, patents and industrial designs — from one WhatsApp conversation. Every filing starts with a search, so you find out about conflicts before you pay government fees, not after.
Consultation is free. Our service fee is confirmed with you on WhatsApp before anything is filed — government fees depend on the type of right and, for trademarks, the number of classes, and are explained upfront.
What can be registered — and under which law
All intellectual property in Pakistan is administered by one body, the Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan (IPO-Pakistan), which brings together the Trade Marks Registry, the Copyright Office and the Patent & Design Office. But each kind of right has its own law, its own register and its own duration — so the first job is matching your asset to the right row.
| Right | What it protects | Pakistani law | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trademark | Brand names, logos, slogans and other marks that identify your goods or services | Trade Marks Ordinance, 2001 | 10 years from filing, renewable indefinitely in 10-year periods |
| Copyright | Original literary, artistic, musical and dramatic works, films and software | Copyright Ordinance, 1962 | Generally the author's lifetime plus 50 years |
| Patent | New inventions that involve an inventive step and can be used in industry | Patents Ordinance, 2000 | 20 years from filing, subject to annual renewal fees |
| Industrial design | The visual look of a product — its shape, configuration, pattern or ornament | Registered Designs Ordinance, 2000 | An initial 10-year term, with extension available |
There is also a fifth, narrower right: geographical indications, under the Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Act, 2020, for goods whose reputation comes from where they are made. If that is your case, message us and we will deal with it separately — it does not follow the trademark route.
Trademark registration, step by step
Most of our filings are trademarks, so here is that process in full. The same search-first discipline applies to the other rights, but the trademark route has the most stages — and the most places to go wrong.
Search first
We search the IPO register for identical and similar marks in your classes. This is the step that saves wasted fees — a conflicting mark found here costs nothing; found after filing, it costs the whole application.
File the application
We file with the Trade Marks Registry — TM-1 for goods, TM-2 for services — with your mark, your details and the goods or services listed under the right Nice classes (45 classes in total).
Examination
IPO examines the application for conflicts and legal problems. If it objects, you generally have two months to reply — we draft and file the reply for you.
Journal & opposition
If accepted, your mark is published in the Trademarks Journal. Others then have two months to oppose. If nobody opposes, or an opposition is resolved in your favour, the mark proceeds.
Certificate
IPO issues your Registration Certificate (TM-11). From here your mark is protected for 10 years from filing, renewable indefinitely — and only now may you use the ® symbol.
Three facts about trademarks surprise most first-time filers. First, Pakistan works on first-to-file: the person who files first generally wins the right, even if someone else traded under the name longer. Prior use can support an opposition, but it is a fight, not a shortcut.
Second, a company name is not a trademark. SECP approval only puts your name on the companies register; it gives no trademark rights at all, and the two registers are entirely separate. If you have just incorporated, your brand is still unprotected until it is filed here.
Third, on timing: expect months, not weeks. Examination and the two-month journal window alone set the floor, and a straightforward case commonly runs the better part of a year or more from filing to certificate. Anyone promising a registered trademark in days is selling something else.
One more route worth knowing: since May 2021, Pakistan is a member of the Madrid Protocol, so brand owners abroad can seek protection in Pakistan through a single international application designating Pakistan — and Pakistani owners can use the same route outward. If you are filing from outside Pakistan, message us and we will map the local and international options before you choose.
Copyright, patents and designs — briefly
Copyright is different from the rest: it arises automatically the moment an original work is created and fixed in some form. You do not have to register a book, a song, a photograph or a piece of software for copyright to exist. Registration is still worth doing, because it gives you dated, documented proof of ownership — and proof is what a dispute turns on when someone copies your work.
A patent is the hardest right to get and the strongest while it lasts. Your invention must be new, involve an inventive step, and be capable of industrial application — and the application itself, with its claims and drawings, is a technical document that decides the scope of your protection. We handle the prior-art search and the filing, and we tell you honestly at the search stage if the invention looks unpatentable, before the expensive drafting starts.
An industrial design protects how a product looks, not how it works. If your product's shape, pattern or ornamentation is part of why customers recognise it, design registration stops others copying that appearance — even if they build the same function differently. Function belongs to patents; appearance belongs to designs, and confusing the two is a common first mistake.
What to send us
Clear photos or scans on WhatsApp are fine. For most filings, the list is short — the work itself is the main document.
Trademark filing
- Your name or logo artwork, in clear form (word mark, device mark, or both)
- Applicant details — CNIC for individuals, incorporation record for companies
- List of goods or services the mark will cover, so classes are chosen correctly
- Power of attorney, if we file as your agent
- Any earlier use evidence, if you have traded under the mark already
Copyright, patent or design filing
- Applicant details — CNIC for individuals, incorporation record for companies
- Copyright: a copy of the work, and the author's details
- Patent: a description of the invention, with drawings where they help
- Design: drawings or photographs showing the product's appearance
- Power of attorney, if we file as your agent
Where filings usually fail
The most expensive mistake is filing without a search. The second is filing in the wrong Nice class — your mark is then protected where you don't need it and unprotected where you do, and fixing that means a new application, not an amendment. The third is picking a mark that cannot be registered at all: purely descriptive or generic words, and marks devoid of distinctive character, are refused no matter how long you have used them.
After filing, the quiet failures take over. An examination objection left unanswered past its deadline can kill the application. A journal publication nobody watches can pass its two-month opposition window unchallenged — or, from the other side, an opposition you never reply to can sink a good mark.
And a registered mark whose 10-year renewal lapses can be removed from the register. We watch the journal, the deadlines and the renewals for you, because a filing service that disappears after submission is not a service at all.
On "guaranteed registration" offers. Nobody can guarantee a trademark, a patent or a design — the Registrar decides, and oppositions happen. What can be guaranteed is the work: a proper search, correct classes, a clean application, answered objections and watched deadlines. That is what we do, and what we charge for. If a dispute reaches a tribunal or a court, we will tell you plainly when it needs a litigator rather than a filing service.
Filed across Pakistan, including overseas applicants
Filings go to IPO-Pakistan, whose offices sit in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad — but the filing itself is handled for you, so your city changes nothing. Businesses and individuals in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Hyderabad and every other city are served the same way, on WhatsApp. Foreign applicants offering goods or services in Pakistan are also eligible to file here, and we handle those applications the same way.
Intellectual Property — Asked & Answered
Trademark, copyright or patent — which do I need?
It depends on the asset. A brand name or logo is a trademark. A book, song, photograph or software is copyright. A new technical invention is a patent. A product's appearance is an industrial design. Many businesses need more than one — a product can carry a trademarked name, a patented mechanism and a registered design at the same time.
Do I need a registered company before I file?
No. An individual can own a trademark, a copyright, a patent or a design. A company is not a precondition. What a company registration does not do is protect your brand — SECP approval and trademark registration are two separate registers, and only the IPO filing gives trademark rights.
How long does trademark registration take?
Expect months, not weeks. Examination takes time, and the journal publication alone opens a two-month opposition window. A straightforward case commonly runs the better part of a year or more from filing to certificate, and objections or an opposition extend it further.
How long does protection last?
A trademark lasts 10 years from filing and can be renewed indefinitely. A patent lasts 20 years from filing, subject to annual renewal fees. Copyright generally lasts the author's lifetime plus 50 years. An industrial design runs an initial 10-year term, with extension available.
Can I use the ® symbol before registration?
No. The ® symbol may only be used once your mark is officially registered with IPO-Pakistan. While your application is pending, or if your mark is unregistered, use ™ instead. Using ® without registration is an offence under the law.
What if someone copies me after I register?
Your certificate is your proof of ownership, and it is what enforcement turns on — notices, opposition and cancellation proceedings, and action before the IP tribunals all start from it. Without registration, the same dispute is far harder to win. Message us with what happened and we will set out the next step for your case.
Is the consultation really free?
Yes. We identify which right fits your asset, run the first search view where possible, and confirm your fee on WhatsApp before any filing starts. If registration does not fit your case — copyright already protects a work automatically, for example — we say so.
Starting a business? Protect the name too
Start with a free consultation
Message us on WhatsApp with your brand name or logo, your work, your invention or your product design. We will identify the right protection, run the search, and confirm your fee before filing anything.
Message on WhatsAppIP filings across Pakistan, through IPO-Pakistan. No office visit. No email — WhatsApp only.