To protect a restaurant or food brand in Pakistan, register the name and logo as trade marks for restaurant services, and separately for any food or drink you sell under the brand, then control every other user through written licences. Restaurant services fall in Class 43, and packaged foods and drinks in classes such as 29, 30 and 32. Section 14(1) of the Trade Marks Ordinance 2001 bars marks that only describe the goods or services, so the safe course is a distinctive brand element.
Which trade mark classes cover a restaurant or food business?
Rule 11 of the Trade Marks Rules 2004 classifies goods and services under the International Classification of goods and services, set out in the Fourth Schedule. The class headings relevant to food businesses include:
- Class 43: services for providing food and drink. This covers the restaurant, café or takeaway itself.
- Class 29: meat, fish, poultry, preserved and cooked fruit and vegetables, jams, eggs, milk products, edible oils and pickles.
- Class 30: coffee, tea, rice, flour and cereal preparations, bread, biscuits, cakes, pastry and confectionery, ices, sauces and spices.
- Class 32: mineral and aerated waters, other non-alcoholic drinks and fruit juices.
If a restaurant also sells branded sauces, frozen foods or bakery items in shops, the safe course is to cover those goods as well as the restaurant service. Our guide to trademark classes in Pakistan explains how classification works and how to write the specification.
Which parts of a food brand can be registered?
The name and the logo are the usual starting points. The limits come from section 14 of the Trade Marks Ordinance 2001. A mark is refused if it is devoid of distinctive character, consists only of words describing the kind, quality or geographical origin of the goods or services, or has become customary in the trade (section 14(1)(b) to (d)). The safe course is to assume that a name made only of a dish and a place, or a common food term, will meet that objection. The proviso to section 14(1) lets a mark through if it has acquired distinctive character through use before the application, but that needs evidence.
Shapes are also limited. Section 14(2) bars a mark that consists exclusively of a shape that results from the nature of the goods, is necessary to obtain a technical result, or gives substantial value to the goods. A name that does not describe the food is less exposed to the section 14(1) objections; the dish can still be described alongside it.
Does registration protect your signboard and business name?
Registration gives the owner the right to stop others using an identical or deceptively similar mark for the same or similar goods or services (section 40(1) to (3)). Section 40(5) adds that using a registered mark as a trade name, or part of one, is an infringement. For a restaurant, that covers a rival using your registered mark as its shop or business name.
The same applies online. Under section 40(6), using a registered mark as a domain name, or part of one, is also an infringement. Keep dated screenshots of copycat delivery-app listings and social pages.
How should franchises, branches and partners use the brand?
Food brands grow through franchisees, licensed branches and co-packers, and each of them uses your mark. The Ordinance deals with this in three ways:
- Written licences. A licence is not effective unless it is in writing and signed by or on behalf of the owner (section 75(3)).
- Limited licences. A licence can cover only some goods or services, or use in a particular manner or locality (section 75(2)), for example, city by city.
- Use by licensees counts. Permitted use is treated as use by the owner (section 74(1)). This helps the owner defend the registration against revocation for non-use, which section 73(1) allows after five years without bona fide use.
Register the mark in the owner’s name before signing with any franchisee. For royalties, remittances and licence recording, see our guide to franchising and trademark licensing in Pakistan.
What can you do about a copycat restaurant?
If your mark is registered, section 46(2) makes damages, injunctions and accounts available for infringement, and section 117 requires the suit to be filed in an IP Tribunal. If it is not registered, section 46(3) preserves an action for passing off. Filing early means you do not have to rely on that route alone.
Is a food licence enough to protect the name?
Trade mark registration under the Ordinance is made by the Registrar of Trade Marks (section 33). A food or trade licence is a separate process, so the safe course is to treat the two separately and make sure the name on your licences matches the brand you have filed.
Frequently asked questions
Which class do I need for a restaurant name?
Class 43, services for providing food and drink. If you also sell packaged food or drinks under the name, add the goods classes, such as 29, 30 or 32.
Can I register the name of a dish?
Not if the name only describes the goods or has become customary in the trade: section 14(1) bars such marks unless they had acquired a distinctive character through use before the application date.
Do franchisees need a written agreement to use my mark?
Yes. Under section 75(3) of the Trade Marks Ordinance, a licence is not effective unless it is in writing and signed by or on behalf of the owner.
Someone opened a restaurant with my brand name. What are my options?
With a registered mark, an infringement suit in an IP Tribunal, including where your mark is used as their trade name (section 40(5)). Without one, an action for passing off under the general law, which section 46(3) preserves.
The Trade Marks Ordinance 2001 and the Trade Marks Rules 2004 were checked on 15 October 2026. This post is general information, not legal advice.