US Trademarks for Pakistani Businesses: How USPTO Representation Works

The USPTO’s rule applies to every trademark applicant, registrant and party whose domicile is outside the United States (37 CFR 2.11(a)). For a company, domicile means its principal place of business: the headquarters where senior officers direct and control the business (37 CFR 2.2(o)–(p)). A company headquartered in Lahore or Karachi is therefore foreign-domiciled, even if it has a sales office or warehouse in the United States.

• Who qualifies. The attorney must be in good standing with the bar of the highest court of a US state, the District of Columbia or a US territory (37 CFR 11.14(a)). The USPTO’s guidance on hiring a US-licensed attorney says that attorneys who are not US-licensed cannot represent you in a trademark matter at the USPTO. Foreign attorneys are recognised only under a reciprocity arrangement (37 CFR 11.14(c)), and the USPTO’s guidance mentions only Canada.
• What counts as practice. Under 37 CFR 11.5(b), practice before the USPTO in trademark matters includes advising a client in contemplation of filing, and preparing or prosecuting the application. So the US clearance opinion, the US wording of the goods and services, the filing basis and every reply to the USPTO belong to the US attorney.
• Domicile address. All applicants must give, and keep current, their domicile address in trademark filings, according to the USPTO’s rule page (last updated 16 July 2025).

The USPTO warns that failing to appoint a US-licensed attorney may cost the applicant its legal rights.

Raza & Associates acts as IP counsel and coordinating firm, with US counsel handling USPTO representation. We advise on Pakistani law, not US 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 US counsel, with one point of contact.
• Independent US counsel (a US-licensed attorney): files, signs and responds at the USPTO.

Route 1: a direct USPTO application. Your US attorney files the application electronically and is the attorney of record from day one. The application can rest on use of the mark in US commerce, on a bona fide intention to use it, on a Pakistani application filed within the previous six months (priority), or on a Pakistani registration, as the USPTO’s page on filing bases explains. Your attorney chooses the basis.

Route 2: designating the United States in a Madrid application from Pakistan. Pakistan has been a member of the Madrid Protocol since 24 May 2021, and the United States since 2 November 2003. A Pakistani national, a person domiciled in Pakistan, or a business with a real and effective establishment in Pakistan can file one international application through IPO-Pakistan, based on a Pakistani application or registration, and designate the United States (Madrid Protocol, Article 2(1); Trade Marks Ordinance 2001, s.92D).

• A designation of the United States must be accompanied by WIPO form MM18, the declaration of intention to use the mark. It can be signed by the applicant or a person authorised to sign for it, and its wording is fixed; we prepare it for the applicant to sign.
• No US attorney is needed to file the designation. From the first provisional refusal (office action), a US-licensed attorney must represent the applicant, according to the USPTO’s rule page.
• The USPTO has declared an 18-month period to refuse protection, and a Madrid applicant has six months to respond to an office action, with no extension.

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

A brand that is free in Pakistan may already be taken in the United States.

• Pakistan. A search of the Pakistani register comes first, because the Pakistani mark is the base for a Madrid filing and for any priority claim. Our guide to trademark search and clearance in Pakistan sets out what to check.
• Classes. Each Pakistani application covers one class (Trade Marks Rules 2004, rr.13–14), while a US application can list several classes. A Madrid designation cannot cover more than the Pakistani basic marks cover, so plan the Pakistani classes with the US list in mind. See our guide to trademark classes in Pakistan.
• United States. Anyone can run a first check in the USPTO’s trademark search system. A US clearance opinion, which weighs similar marks and US registrability, is advice for your US attorney to give.

Have these ready before you instruct the US attorney:

• the applicant’s exact legal name, legal form and domicile address (the head office, not a post office box);
• a clear image of the mark, or the exact wording if it is a word mark;
• a description of the goods or services actually sold or planned for the US market, which the attorney turns into USPTO-acceptable wording;
• evidence of use in US commerce, such as product labels or website pages showing the mark with the goods, if the application relies on use;
• the Pakistani application or registration number and date, if priority or a Pakistani registration is relied on; and
• the name and authority of the person who will sign declarations for the company.

Source: 37 CFR 2.11 and 11.5(b), the USPTO rule page and the Madrid Protocol, checked 13 October 2026.

Many Pakistani sellers want a US trademark for Amazon’s Brand Registry. Amazon’s Brand Registry page (checked 13 October 2026) sets out which trademarks it accepts. Amazon’s rules on pending applications change, so check its current eligibility page before you plan around one. Your US attorney will confirm which entity should be named as the applicant; the applicant is recorded as the owner of the mark.

The USPTO is acting against filing companies that put a US attorney’s name on applications the attorney did not handle. On 6 August 2025 it sanctioned one non-US filing company and terminated more than 52,000 applications and registrations linked to it (USPTO news release). Its warning on attorney sponsorship (updated 19 August 2026) describes the consequences: suspended accounts, blocked filing access and terminated applications.

• Ask who the attorney of record will be, and check that the attorney is a member in good standing of a US state bar.
• Expect the attorney’s own name and contact details on the application, not a service’s.
• Be wary of any offer to file at the USPTO through someone who is not a US-licensed attorney.

We do not file at the USPTO. The US-licensed attorney you appoint files and signs.

The USPTO is also the US patent office, and a similar representation rule now applies to patents.

• Permission in Pakistan first. A Pakistani resident may need the Pakistan Patent Office’s (IPO-Pakistan) written permission before filing abroad. Our guide to foreign filing permission for patents in Pakistan explains when section 26 of the Patents Ordinance 2000 applies.
• No PCT route of your own. Pakistan is not a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, so a Pakistani applicant cannot file a PCT application alone. See our guide to the PCT route and Pakistan. A direct US filing claiming priority within 12 months of the first application is the usual route (Paris Convention, Article 4).
• A registered patent practitioner. Since 20 July 2026, a patent applicant or patent owner domiciled outside the United States must be represented by a registered US patent practitioner (37 CFR 1.31(a)(2); USPTO memorandum of 17 July 2026).

Sources: WIPO’s Paris Convention summary, the USPTO pages on response periods and keeping a registration alive, and WIPO’s Madrid declarations, checked 13 October 2026.

A quotation for a US trademark has three parts: the official fees, the US attorney’s fees, and our fees for the Pakistani work and coordination. Official fees change, so we take them from the official pages on the day we quote:

• USPTO fees, most of them charged per class: the USPTO’s trademark fee information page (last updated 18 January 2025);
• WIPO fees for a Madrid designation of the United States (the US charges an individual fee): WIPO’s Madrid fee calculator;
• IPO-Pakistan’s handling fee for an international application: IPO’s filing requirements page; and
• Pakistani filing fees for the basic application: our guide to trademark registration cost and timeline in Pakistan.

All official fee pages were checked on 13 October 2026. US counsel quotes its own fees.

Raza & Associates is an intellectual property and corporate law firm based in Lahore and established in 2005. It is listed in Tier 3 of The Legal 500 ranking for Pakistan intellectual property. Our trademark lawyers in Pakistan handle Pakistani trademark registration and search work, file Madrid applications through IPO-Pakistan, and coordinate filings abroad with local counsel.

On the Pakistani side, Hashim Raza is a Registered Trade Mark Agent, IPO-Pakistan (Trade Marks Registry), Reg. No. TM-215/20, on the register since 25 January 2019. That registration concerns filings before IPO-Pakistan; it is not a US qualification.

For a Pakistani brand going to the United States, we can:

• search and file the mark in Pakistan, class by class;
• file a Madrid application through IPO-Pakistan designating the United States, with the MM18 ready for your signature;
• work with the independent US-licensed attorney 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 US patent filing.

To discuss a US filing plan, contact us with the mark, the goods or services, and when you expect to start selling in the United States.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. It does not give advice on US law, which only a US-licensed attorney can give. Laws and official fees change, so check the current position before you act.

• USPTO: US-licensed attorney rule, filing bases, response periods, maintenance and fees (read 13 October 2026). CFR means the US Code of Federal Regulations.
• WIPO: form MM18, Madrid declarations and fee calculator (read 13 October 2026).
• IPO-Pakistan: filing an international application through the office of origin (read 13 October 2026).