UK Trade Marks for Pakistani Businesses: UKIPO Filing and Who Can Represent You

UK law is more open than US law on who may file. Anything an applicant may do before the registrar may be done through an agent the applicant authorises (Trade Marks Act 1994, s.82), and any person may carry on business as a patent agent (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, s.274). What UK law protects is the professional title.

• Protected titles. Only people on the regulator’s register may describe themselves as a “registered trade mark attorney” or “registered trade mark agent”, or as a “patent attorney” or “patent agent” (Trade Marks Act 1994, s.84; Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, s.276). The title “solicitor” is also protected (Solicitors Act 1974, s.21). Using these titles without being entitled to them is a criminal offence.
• Regulated or not. The UK government’s guidance on getting advice from an intellectual property professional (published 26 November 2025) says you may use an unregulated adviser, but you then lose the safeguards that come with a regulated one. It points to the register kept by the Intellectual Property Regulation Board (IPReg) to check a representative.
• Court work is different. In England and Wales, rights of audience in court and the conduct of litigation are reserved legal activities (Legal Services Act 2007, s.12); Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules. If a matter goes to court, such as an infringement claim or an appeal to the High Court, the representative must be authorised for that work.

So the honest answer to “who should represent me in the UK?” is a question to ask any candidate: are you on the relevant UK register, and what UK address for service will be recorded for my mark? Our lawyers in Pakistan do not act before the UKIPO on objections or oppositions, Raza & Associates does not use the titles patent attorney, patent agent, registered trade mark attorney or registered trade mark agent, and it does not conduct UK court proceedings; a UK representative handles those steps.

Our London office includes a UK-qualified solicitor.

Raza & Associates acts as IP counsel and coordinating firm, with UK counsel handling UKIPO representation. Our lawyers in Pakistan advise on Pakistani law, not UK law.

• IP counsel in Pakistan: Pakistani advice, the Pakistani basic mark and, for applicants entitled to file through Pakistan, the Madrid application (Form MM2) through IPO-Pakistan.
• Coordinating firm: documents, deadlines and instructions between you and UK counsel, with one point of contact.
• Independent UK counsel (a UK-qualified representative with a UK address for service): acts before the UKIPO on objections and oppositions.

Since 1 January 2021, an address for service must be in the United Kingdom, Gibraltar or the Channel Islands (Trade Marks Rules 2008, r.11(4)). The UKIPO’s address-for-service guidance (last updated 1 September 2023) adds three points:

• the Isle of Man is also accepted;
• the address can be any address with which you or your business is associated, and if you appoint a representative, the representative’s address is used; and
• without a valid address for service, an application may be treated as withdrawn.

The same rule covers UK patents and designs. A Pakistani exporter with a UK distributor or subsidiary should decide early whose address will be recorded, because official letters, objections and opposition papers go there.

A direct application is filed online with the UKIPO, by the business itself or by its UK representative, with a UK-area address for service from the start. One application can cover several classes of goods and services, and the official fee rises with the number of classes. According to the UK government’s application page, registration usually takes around three to four months from application if there are no issues.

• Examination. The UKIPO examines the application and sends any objection to the address for service.
• Publication and opposition. An accepted application is published. The standard opposition period is two months, extendable to three by a notice of threatened opposition (UKIPO trade marks manual).
• Priority. If the UK application is filed within six months of the Pakistani application for the same mark, it can claim the Pakistani filing date (Trade Marks Act 1994, s.35).

Pakistan has been a member of the Madrid Protocol since 24 May 2021, and the United Kingdom since 1 December 1995. A Pakistani national, a person domiciled in Pakistan, or a business with a real and effective establishment in Pakistan can file an international application through IPO-Pakistan, based on a Pakistani application or registration, and designate the United Kingdom (Madrid Protocol, Article 2(1); Trade Marks Ordinance 2001, s.92D).

The UKIPO’s international examination guide explains what happens next:

• the UKIPO must tell WIPO within 18 months of the notification date whether the mark can be protected;
• it accepts an address for service outside the UK as long as there are no issues with the application;
• to respond to an objection or an opposition, the holder needs an address for service in the UK, the Channel Islands or Gibraltar; and
• a provisional refusal usually allows two months for a response.

The Madrid route is for Pakistani brand owners only: a UK or US company with no Pakistani nationality, domicile or establishment cannot use IPO-Pakistan as its office of origin. The full Madrid steps, the five-year dependency on the Pakistani mark and WIPO’s fees are covered in our guide to international trademark registration from Pakistan.

• Pakistan. Search the Pakistani register first, because the Pakistani mark is the base for a Madrid filing and for a priority claim. See our guide to trademark search and clearance in Pakistan.
• Classes. Each Pakistani application covers one class (Trade Marks Rules 2004, rr.13–14), and a Madrid designation cannot cover more than the Pakistani basic marks cover. Our guide to trademark classes in Pakistan explains how to plan them.
• United Kingdom. A first check can be run in the UKIPO’s trade mark search. A UK representative can then advise on similar earlier marks and on UK objections.

Source: Trade Marks Act 1994, s.82; Trade Marks Rules 2008, r.11(4); the UKIPO’s address-for-service guidance and international examination guide, checked 13 October 2026.

• Renewal. A UK registration lasts ten years from the filing date, which the Act treats as the date of registration (Trade Marks Act 1994, ss.40(3) and 42), and can be renewed for further ten-year periods. A UK designation in a Madrid registration is renewed through WIPO when the international registration is renewed.
• Use. A registration can be revoked if the mark has not been put to genuine use in the United Kingdom within five years after the registration procedure was completed, or if use is suspended for five years (Trade Marks Act 1994, s.46(1)). Keep dated evidence of UK sales, invoices and marketing.

Sources: the Trade Marks Act 1994, the UKIPO pages linked above and WIPO’s Paris Convention summary, checked 13 October 2026.

Before filing a UK patent application, a Pakistani resident should check whether the Pakistan Patent Office’s (IPO-Pakistan) written permission is needed (see our guide to foreign filing permission for patents in Pakistan) and, because Pakistan is not a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, plan a direct UK filing within the 12-month priority period (Paris Convention, Article 4; see our guide to the PCT route and Pakistan). The UK address-for-service rule applies to patents too.

A quotation for a UK trade mark has three parts: the official fees, the UK representative’s fees, and our fees for the Pakistani work and coordination. We take official fees from the official pages on the day we quote:

• UKIPO fees for a direct application, which depend on the number of classes: the UK government’s application page; and
• WIPO fees for a Madrid designation of the United Kingdom (the UK charges an individual fee): WIPO’s Madrid fee calculator.

IPO-Pakistan’s handling fee and the Pakistani fees for the basic application are covered in our guide to international trademark registration from Pakistan. All official fee pages were checked on 13 October 2026. The UK representative quotes its own fees.

Raza & Associates is a Lahore intellectual property and corporate law firm, established in 2005 and listed in Tier 3 of The Legal 500 ranking for Pakistan intellectual property, whose trademark practice handles trademark registration and search work in Pakistan, files Madrid applications through IPO-Pakistan, and coordinates filings abroad with local counsel.

On the Pakistani side, Hashim Raza is on the register of trade mark agents kept by IPO-Pakistan (Trade Marks Registry), Reg. No. TM-215/20, since 25 January 2019. This is a Pakistani registration: he is not on the UK register of trade mark attorneys kept by IPReg.

For a Pakistani brand entering the United Kingdom, we can:

• search and file the mark in Pakistan, class by class;
• file a Madrid application through IPO-Pakistan designating the United Kingdom;
• work with the UK representative you appoint, and pass instructions, documents and deadlines between you;
• keep the Pakistani basic mark alive during the five-year dependency; and
• check foreign filing permission before a UK patent filing.

Also selling in the United States? See our guide to US trademarks and USPTO representation for Pakistani businesses. To discuss a UK filing plan, contact us with the mark, the goods or services, and when you expect to start selling in the United Kingdom.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. It does not give advice on UK law, which a UK-qualified representative should give. Laws and official fees change, so check the current position before you act.

• UK legislation: Trade Marks Act 1994 (ss.9, 35, 42, 46, 82, 84) and Trade Marks Rules 2008, r.11 (read 13 October 2026).
• UKIPO and gov.uk: address for service, international examination guide, applying for a trade mark and legal advice from an IP professional (read 13 October 2026).
• Solicitors: the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s Solicitors Register (read 13 October 2026).
• WIPO and IPO-Pakistan: Madrid fee calculator, Madrid declarations and filing an international application through the office of origin (read 13 October 2026).