Trademark Border Measures in Pakistan: Customs Action on Imports

• Who acts: the Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement, part of Pakistan Customs, constituted under section 3CC of the Customs Act 1969. The Federal Board of Revenue lists regional directorates in Karachi (South), Lahore (Central) and Islamabad (North).
• What you need: a trade mark registered in Pakistan, an application on the prescribed form when the suspect goods arrive, a notarised indemnity undertaking, and a bank guarantee from a scheduled bank for PKR 500,000 or 25% of the value of the suspect goods, whichever is higher.
• What it covers: imports. The Customs Rules’ chapter on intellectual property rights does not apply to exports, parallel or grey-market imports of genuine goods, or small non-commercial quantities in baggage or the post.
• The deadline that matters: under the Trade Marks Ordinance route, once goods are seized you have ten working days to start an action in an IP Tribunal and tell Customs in writing, or the goods are released.
• Where it ends: confiscated or forfeited goods are destroyed; counterfeit goods may not be re-exported or sold locally.

The Customs Act 1969

Section 15 prohibits bringing into or taking out of Pakistan, among other things, goods bearing a counterfeit trade mark within the meaning of the Pakistan Penal Code or a false trade description within the meaning of the intellectual property statutes (clause (c)); foreign-made goods bearing the name or mark of a Pakistani manufacturer, dealer or trader without a clear indication of foreign origin (clause (d)); and goods infringing copyright, industrial designs, patents or layout-designs (clause (e)). A proviso added in 2009 says offences involving goods imported or exported in violation of intellectual property rights are adjudicated by the appropriate officer of customs under section 179.

Section 17 makes goods imported, or attempted to be exported, in breach of section 15 liable to detention, seizure and confiscation. A detention may not exceed fifteen days, which an Additional Collector or Additional Director may extend by up to fifteen days.

The Trade Marks Ordinance 2001, Chapter VI

Sections 53 to 66 deal with the importation of infringing goods, material or articles. The Trade Marks (Amendment) Act 2023 rewrote them so that notices go to the Director General or a Director of IPR (Enforcement), the Collector of Customs or any competent authority under the Customs Act, and so that the follow-up action is brought in an IP Tribunal.

The Customs Rules 2001, rules 678 to 686

A Federal Board of Revenue notification, S.R.O. 170(I)/2017 of 16 March 2017, added a chapter on “Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights” to the Customs Rules 2001: rules 678 to 686, with an application form, an indemnity bond and a bank guarantee form in Annexures A to C.

The Copyright Ordinance 1962

For copyright, sections 65A to 65C prohibit the import and export of infringing copies and let a customs officer detain a suspect consignment on the application of the copyright owner, with detention and examination ordinarily completed within fifteen days. This guide concentrates on trade marks.

Many countries let a right holder file a standing recordal with Customs. Pakistan’s published rules work differently. They refer to a “recordation database” maintained by IPO-Pakistan for right holders registered with it and shared in real time with the Directorate General of IPR (Enforcement) (rule 679(1)(ix)). When an application arrives, or when Customs spots suspect goods itself, the Director checks that database (rules 681(1) and 682(2)).

The published rules set out no separate recordal procedure or fee, although the application form asks for a recordation number and date “if already recorded” and about any pending recordation applications. Section 66 of the Ordinance lets the Director General make regulations on the form of notices, evidence of ownership and a fee. The Directorate will specify any further requirement; we confirm the current position in each matter. Keep the Register up to date, including your address for service.

• A registered mark covering the goods. Section 53 is open to “the proprietor of the registered trade mark”, and section 56 applies to goods for which the mark is registered.
• The documents the form lists (Annexure A): a certified copy of the registration certificate, copies of a CNIC, NTN and passport, a certified copy of the power of attorney where a representative applies, samples or photographs if available, and a statement of the grounds for detention with prima facie evidence. The Rules allow the application to be made by the right holder’s duly authorised representative (rule 679(1)(ii)). What the Directorate requires from a right holder based outside Pakistan in place of the CNIC and NTN details on the form is not set out; we confirm it in each matter.
• A bank guarantee from a scheduled bank for PKR 500,000 or 25% of the value of the suspect goods, whichever is higher (rule 680(4), Annexure C).
• A notarised indemnity undertaking (rule 680(3); Annexure B, on non-judicial stamp paper).
• Product knowledge Customs can use: how to tell genuine goods from copies, the HS codes, and a list of authorised traders (the form asks for these to avoid “unnecessary disruption of legitimate trade”).
• Shipment information. Both routes work consignment by consignment. The form asks, where known, for the place of customs declaration, IGM and index numbers, goods declaration number, container number, expected arrival date and importer.

An incomplete application is refused, with the reasons given in writing (rule 680(5)).

A right holder with valid grounds for suspicion that imported goods infringe its trade mark or copyright may apply, when the suspect goods arrive at the notified customs station, to the Director, IPR (Enforcement) with jurisdiction (rule 680(1)). The steps are:

The Director must keep the application confidential unless disclosure is required by law, and may decide on the information available if a party wilfully refuses access or obstructs the process, after giving the parties a hearing (rule 681(5) and (6)).

The proprietor of a registered mark may give written notice that infringing goods, or goods bearing false indications of their source or manufacturer, are expected to arrive in Pakistan at a stated time and place, and ask that they be treated as prohibited goods (section 53). The notice must come with an undertaking to indemnify Customs and to compensate the importer, consignee or owner for loss from a wrongful suspension of clearance (section 54), and Customs may require security, though not so as to unreasonably deter use of the procedure (section 55).

• Seizure. If the goods bear a mark identical with or deceptively similar to the registered mark, and are goods for which it is registered, they are seized unless the officer is satisfied there are no reasonable grounds to believe the import will infringe (section 56).
• Notice of seizure. The importer is told of the seizure. The applicant is told too, and is given the importer’s full name and address and any other information likely to help identify the importer or owner (section 57).
• Ten working days to sue. The goods are released unless, within ten working days of that notice, the applicant brings an action in an IP Tribunal and gives Customs written notice of it. On a written request made before the period ends, it can be extended by up to ten working days (sections 57(b)(iii), 59(1) and 60(1)).
• Forfeiture by consent. Before the action starts, the importer may consent in writing to forfeiture (section 58).
• In the Tribunal. The Tribunal may join parties, must let Customs be heard, and may release or forfeit the goods; it may not make an order that helps the goods be re-exported, de-branded or sold locally. If it finds the import did not infringe, it may order the applicant to compensate the importer. Unless an order preventing release is in force three weeks after the action was brought, Customs releases the goods (section 60(2) to (7)).
• Exclusive licensees may bring the action in time without first asking the proprietor (section 61).

The published texts do not say how the two routes fit together. The Ordinance’s route ends in an action before an IP Tribunal on a short clock. The Rules’ route ends in customs adjudication by the Collectorate, consistent with the proviso to section 15 of the Customs Act. We advise on the route in each matter before the first consignment is targeted.

A Customs officer who has reasonable grounds to believe that goods infringing a trade mark or copyright, or breaching section 15 of the Customs Act, have arrived must, with the prior approval of the Additional Collector, tell the Directorate in writing (rule 682(1)). The Directorate checks whether the right holder is registered with IPO-Pakistan and, if so, sends it a notice asking for its consent to action. To proceed, the right holder must file the application, undertaking and bank guarantee. If it does not, the goods are released (rule 682(2) to (6)). Be ready to put the guarantee in place quickly.

• Exports. The Rules apply to imported goods only (rule 678), and section 53 speaks of goods expected to arrive in Pakistan. Section 15 of the Customs Act covers goods taken out of Pakistan too, and for copyright section 65B of the Copyright Ordinance covers consignments for export, but no trade mark owner’s application for exports is set out.
• Parallel imports. Genuine goods imported outside the right holder’s distribution system are excluded from the Rules (rules 678 and 679(1)(vii)), and the Ordinance’s definition of infringing goods does not affect goods that may lawfully be imported (section 49(2)).
• Small personal quantities. Small non-commercial quantities in travellers’ baggage or the post are excluded (rules 678 and 679(1)(iii)).
• Patents and designs. These follow the procedure in their own statutes, not the trade mark and copyright application (rule 680(2)).
• Unregistered marks. Section 53 is open to the proprietor of a registered trade mark, and the application form asks for the registration number. The Rules do not say whether a pending application is enough; we confirm the current requirement in each matter.
• Madrid designations. A protected designation of Pakistan has the same effect as a national registration (section 92F(1)), but IPO-Pakistan issues no separate certificate for it. The Directorate will specify the proof of the right it requires; we confirm it in each matter. See our guide to Madrid Protocol designations of Pakistan.

• Confiscation and penalty. Under section 156(1) of the Customs Act (clause 9 of the table), goods imported in violation of a prohibition are liable to confiscation, and any person concerned in the offence is liable to a penalty of up to two times the value of the goods.
• Destruction. Confiscated or forfeited infringing goods are destroyed. Re-export and local sale of counterfeit and pirated goods are not allowed, whether altered or not, or under a different customs procedure (rule 685(1) and (2); sections 60(4) and 62 of the Ordinance).
• Samples. Samples are kept for a year, or while litigation is pending (rule 685(3)).
• The guarantee. If it is encashed, the proceeds pay Customs’ expenses first, then demurrage, detention and warehousing charges, and any balance goes back to the right holder. A shortfall is recoverable from the applicant under section 202 of the Customs Act (rules 683 and 684; section 64 of the Ordinance).
• No claim against the Government. The Federal Government is not liable for loss, damage or delay from a seizure, a failure to seize, or a release (section 65).

Border action stops one consignment. The supply chain behind it is dealt with through the courts.

Civil action in an IP Tribunal

Suits relating to a trade mark may be brought only in an IP Tribunal (section 117 of the Ordinance; section 18(1) of the Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan Act 2012). The proprietor can claim damages, an injunction, an account and other relief available for any property right (section 46), and delivery up of infringing goods (section 48). Goods proposed to be imported count as infringing goods if applying the mark to them in Pakistan would infringe (section 49(1)(b)). An appeal from the Tribunal’s final judgment lies to the High Court within thirty days (section 19 of the 2012 Act).

A seizure under section 56 gives you the importer’s name and address (section 57), which is often where that case starts.

Criminal complaints

• Trade Marks Ordinance. Applying a false trade description to goods, which by definition includes a mark applied so as to suggest the goods are another person’s manufacture, is punishable with imprisonment of three months to two years, a fine of at least PKR 50,000, or both, unless the accused proves there was no intent to defraud (sections 2(xviii)(c) and 99). Repeat offences carry six months to three years or a fine of at least PKR 100,000, or both (section 100).
• Pakistan Penal Code. Sections 482, 483 and 486 punish using a false trade mark, counterfeiting a trade mark used by another person, and selling goods marked with a counterfeit trade mark.
• Where offences are tried. IP Tribunals have exclusive jurisdiction to try offences under the intellectual property laws, and the 2012 Act directs that trials be heard day to day and disposed of within ninety days (sections 15 and 18(2)).
• Complaints through IPO-Pakistan. IPO-Pakistan’s published complaint procedure lets a right holder file a complaint with its enforcement section, with registration certificates, evidence and an affidavit. The other party is given three days to answer, the relevant Registry gives a preliminary opinion, and where infringement appears established the matter is referred to the law enforcement agencies.

Letters to importers

The Ordinance gives a remedy against groundless threats of infringement proceedings, but merely notifying that a mark is registered, or that an application has been made, is not a threat, and a lawyer, advocate or attorney is not liable for acts done in a professional capacity for a client (section 52).

For infringement litigation, notices and anti-counterfeiting work generally, see our IP enforcement and litigation practice.

• Register the marks you need to protect, in the classes covering the goods most likely to be copied.
• Keep the Register current, including your address for service.
• Line up a representative in Pakistan with a certified power of attorney.
• Arrange guarantee capacity with a scheduled bank, and stamp paper for the undertaking.
• Prepare a short product-identification guide and a list of authorised traders.
• Gather shipment information: place of declaration, IGM, goods declaration and container numbers.
• Decide in advance which route you will use, and who will issue the IP Tribunal action within ten working days if needed.

Raza & Associates is an intellectual property and corporate law firm established in 2005, listed in Tier 3 of The Legal 500 ranking for Pakistan intellectual property, with its head office in Lahore and offices in London and Singapore. Its IP practice includes IP surveillance, anti-counterfeiting work and infringement raids. The firm advises right holders on and prepares customs applications under rule 680 and notices under section 53, and acts in related proceedings. To instruct on a Pakistan matter, see Pakistan IP local counsel.

The statutes, rules and official guidance on this page were checked on 15 October 2026. Customs procedures can change by notification; confirm the position before acting.