Trademark Search and Clearance in Pakistan

Rule 87 of the Trade Marks Rules 2004 lets any person ask the Registrar, on Form TM-55, to search goods or services "classified in any one class of the Fourth Schedule". The search checks whether any mark "in the Register or among pending applications for registration" resembles the mark shown on the form. The Registrar informs the person of the result.

• One mark, one class: each TM-55 covers one mark in one class. IPO-Pakistan's guidelines confirm this.
• Representations: the form goes with duplicate representations of the mark (r.87). The guidelines ask for two representations, each mounted on strong paper.
• Official fee: PKR 1,000 per class, by pay order or bank draft in the name of the Director General, IPO-Pakistan (First Schedule, as substituted with effect from 9 March 2019; IPO-Pakistan fee page).
• Timing: IPO-Pakistan's published target for a TM-55 search report is fifteen days (Average Process Time table). That is a target, not a commitment.

The result is a list of potentially conflicting marks. It does not tell you whether the Registrar will object, or whether an owner will oppose.

Rule 88 allows a person to "conduct personal search on payment of the fee" in respect of goods or services in any one class. The aim is to see whether any registered mark, or any pending application, resembles the mark the person wants to register.

The First Schedule fee is PKR 300 "for permission to search amongst the classified representations of trade marks, for each quarter of an hour". IPO-Pakistan's 2019 filing guidelines list the personal search facility at the Trade Marks Registry, Karachi; IPO headquarters, Islamabad; and the IPO Regional Office, Lahore. Confirm current availability at the office you plan to use before travelling.

A personal search costs little in official fees, but you do the comparing yourself.

Rules 87 and 88 provide for a search by the Registrar and a personal search. Whether IPO-Pakistan offers any online search facility, and on what terms, should be confirmed with your Pakistan counsel at the time of searching.

What is public online is the Trade Marks Journal. IPO-Pakistan publishes it monthly as an e-Journal, and every accepted application is advertised in it (s.28(1) of the Trade Marks Ordinance 2001). The Journal is not a searchable register. It does not show applications still awaiting examination, and it lists accepted applications one issue at a time. It is a watching tool, not a search tool: a conflicting application spotted there can be opposed within two months. Trademark opposition in Pakistan

Even a well-run TM-55 search leaves gaps. The Ordinance explains why:

• Similar goods in other classes: refusal under s.17(2) turns on similar goods or services, not on the class number. The Registrar's own search looks at "same goods or services or same description of goods or services" (r.26). A one-class search can miss a mark in a related class, so search the related classes too.
• Marks with a reputation: section 17(3) protects an earlier mark with a reputation in Pakistan even for dissimilar goods or services. Well-known marks are earlier marks whether or not they are registered here (s.18(1)(c)). Section 29(4) makes reputation a ground of opposition.
• Unregistered rights: section 17(4) bars a mark whose use could be prevented by the law of passing off, or by copyright or design rights. None of these appear on the Register.
• Recently expired marks: a registration that expired within the past year still counts as an earlier mark, unless there was no bona fide use in the two years before expiry (s.18(3)).
• Priority claims: an application filed in Pakistan with a Convention priority claim takes the date of the first foreign filing, if it is made within six months of that filing (s.25(2)–(3)). A mark filed abroad shortly before your search can therefore outrank yours, even though it was not on the Pakistani record when you searched.
• Your own mark's weaknesses: lack of distinctiveness, descriptiveness and bad faith are absolute grounds under s.14. They come from the mark itself, not from the Register.

How the 45 classes work, and why the class number is not the test for conflict, is explained in the classes guide. Trademark classes in Pakistan

A clearance review takes the search results and reads them against the law. It should:

• compare each relevant earlier mark with yours under s.17: the marks as wholes, the goods or services, and the likelihood of confusion;
• check the mark itself against the absolute grounds in s.14;
• cover the related classes and the specification you actually need;
• look beyond the Register, at use in the Pakistani market, trade names and online presence, for the unregistered-rights risk under s.17(4);
• set out the filing choices: word mark or logo, which classes, how to draft the specification, and whether to claim priority; and
• record the risks that remain.

No search or review can guarantee that an application will be accepted, or that no one will oppose it. What it does is let you decide before the filing and branding costs are committed.

If the mark is clear enough to proceed, the application is filed on Form TM-1, one class per application (rr.12(2), 13 and 14). The official filing fee is PKR 3,000 per class. Trademark registration procedure in Pakistan

The official fees for each later stage, and IPO-Pakistan's published processing times, are in the cost guide. Trademark registration cost and timeline in Pakistan

Brand owners outside Pakistan should also read how a foreign filing works. Pakistan trademark filing for foreign applicants

Raza & Associates was established in 2005 and is listed in Tier 3 of The Legal 500 ranking for Pakistan intellectual property. Its trademark practice covers clearance searches, filing, prosecution, objections, oppositions, renewals, assignments, licensing and enforcement, for local and foreign applicants. Offices: Lahore (head office), London and Singapore.

Request a Pakistan clearance and filing review from our trademark team. Pakistan trademark lawyers

This guide summarises the Trade Marks Ordinance 2001, the Trade Marks Rules 2004, the First Schedule fees and IPO-Pakistan's published pages as read on 5 October 2026. It is not legal advice on any particular matter.