Here is the answer up top
Trademark registration in Pakistan costs Rs 12,000 in government fees per class — Rs 3,000 to file on Form TM-1 plus Rs 9,000 to complete registration on Form TM-11 — and a straightforward, unopposed application typically takes 12 to 18 months from filing to certificate. Add Rs 1,000 per class if you run the optional official search first (Form TM-55), and budget separately for a lawyer or agent if you use one, because their fee is on top of the government fees. Registration is handled by the Trade Marks Registry of IPO-Pakistan (the Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan) under the Trade Marks Ordinance 2001, and once granted it lasts 10 years from your filing date and can be renewed indefinitely. This guide walks through the whole process in order — search, class, filing, examination, publication, opposition and certificate — with the real costs, the documents you need, and the mistakes that quietly add a year to the timeline. All facts were checked on 2 November 2026; IPO-Pakistan revises fees and portal steps by notification, so confirm the current fee schedule on ipo.gov.pk on the day you file, because the portal figure on that day matters more than any guide, including this one.
If you are still deciding how to structure the business behind the brand, start with the broader picture of registering a business in Pakistan and what each route actually costs — a trademark protects the name, it does not create the business itself.
What a trademark actually protects — and what it does not
A trademark is a sign that tells customers where a product or service comes from: a word, a logo, a slogan, or a combination of them. Registration gives you the exclusive statutory right to use that mark for the specific goods or services you registered it for, and a certificate you can show to a marketplace, a bank, a partner or a court if someone copies it. That specificity matters. A registration in one class does not give you the whole market. If you register a clothing brand in Class 25 (clothing) and someone else starts selling software under a similar name in Class 9, your Class 25 registration alone does not automatically stop them — different class, different goods, different question.
Registration also does not do three things people often assume it does. It does not incorporate a company — that is SECP’s job, and the steps are different (see our guide to registering a private limited company with SECP). It does not give you a tax number — that is a separate FBR step, covered in our guide to NTN registration for sole proprietors. And it does not guarantee that nobody else is already using a similar name as an unregistered business name or a company name. Registration is the strongest, cleanest protection available, but it protects the mark in the classes you file for, from the date you file — not everything, everywhere, forever, without limits.
One more distinction before you spend anything: Pakistan is broadly a first-to-file system. The filing date, not the date you first used the name in the market, is what establishes your priority in the register. A business that has traded under a name for two years without filing can still lose the race to a newcomer who files first. That is the single best reason not to leave filing until the brand is already famous — by then, someone else may have filed it, or you may discover a conflicting earlier filing that forces a rebrand at exactly the moment you can least afford one.
How much trademark registration costs in Pakistan
The government fees are set out in the First Schedule to the Trade Marks Rules 2004, as substituted with effect from 9 March 2019, and they have been quoted consistently across IPO-Pakistan’s fee schedule and practitioner guides since then. They are charged per class, because each class is a separate application.
| Step / Form | What it is for | Government fee (per class) |
|---|---|---|
| TM-55 (optional) | Official search of the register for one mark in one class | Rs 1,000 |
| TM-1 | Application to register the mark in one class | Rs 3,000 |
| TM-11 | Registration fee, paid after acceptance and the opposition period, for the certificate | Rs 9,000 |
| TM-12 | Renewal every 10 years | Rs 15,000 |
So the honest headline figure is Rs 12,000 per class in government fees (Rs 13,000 if you run the official search first), before any professional fee. A brand that needs three classes — say clothing, retail services and an app — is three applications, so roughly Rs 36,000 in government fees, or Rs 39,000 with searches. That multiplication is where most first-timers under-budget: they price one class and discover later that their business actually spans three.
Two caveats to keep the figure honest. First, some practitioner guides quote a higher TM-1 filing figure for companies (Rs 5,000–6,000 rather than Rs 3,000). The First Schedule figure is Rs 3,000, but because fee schedules are revised by notification, check IPO-Pakistan’s current fee page before you pay and budget a small margin above the headline figure rather than to the rupee. Second, professional fees are entirely separate and vary widely: a lawyer or agent charges for the search, drafting the specification, filing, answering objections and watching the opposition period, and quotes online range from modest fixed fees to Rs 70,000–100,000 all-in for a handled case. If you hire someone, ask for a written quote that separates their fee from the government fees, and ask what happens to their fee if an objection or opposition appears — that is where cheap quotes often grow.
Choosing the right class: the step that decides everything
Pakistan uses the international Nice Classification: 45 classes in total, Classes 1–34 for goods and Classes 35–45 for services. You do not register “a trademark” in general; you register it for a list of goods or services inside one class, and a separate application is needed for every additional class. Getting this wrong is the most expensive avoidable mistake in the process, because you cannot simply add a class to an application later — you file a new application, pay again, and get a new filing date for that class.
Work from what you actually sell today, plus what you realistically plan to sell in the next year or two — not from an aspirational list of everything you might one day do. A few common examples make the logic concrete:
| Business | Core class | Second class you may also need |
|---|---|---|
| Clothing brand selling its own shirts | Class 25 — clothing, footwear, headgear | Class 35 — retail services, if you run your own shop or online store selling those clothes |
| SaaS startup with a downloadable app | Class 9 — software and electronic apparatus | Class 42 — software-as-a-service and IT services, for the hosted service itself |
| Restaurant with a signature sauce | Class 43 — services for providing food and drink | Class 30 — sauces and condiments, once you bottle and sell the sauce as a product |
| Freelance design studio | Class 42 — design services | Class 35 — advertising and business services, if you also offer marketing services |
If you are a freelancer or solo founder, the same logic applies on a smaller scale: a designer selling design services files in the services class for what they do, not in a goods class for products they do not make. And if you are getting paid as a freelancer in Pakistan under a brand name you plan to grow into an agency, filing early in the right services class is cheaper than rebranding later. When in doubt between two classes, check WIPO’s Nice Classification list for the exact wording of your goods or services before filing, and consider paying for the TM-55 search in both candidate classes — Rs 1,000 now is far cheaper than a refused or useless registration later.
Before you file: the checklist
Most delays are not caused by IPO-Pakistan being slow. They are caused by applications that arrive incomplete, vague or in the wrong class. Work through this list first:
The mark itself, in final form. For a word mark, the exact spelling. For a logo, a clean, high-resolution representation — the image you file is the image that gets registered, so do not file a draft logo you plan to “tidy up later”. A tidy-up is a new filing.
Applicant details, exactly as they should appear on the certificate. Your full legal name (or the company’s registered name), nationality and address. If the business is a private limited company, the applicant should be the company, not you personally — otherwise the certificate belongs to you, not the business, and transferring it later is extra paperwork. Foreign applicants need an address for service in Pakistan and normally file through an authorised attorney in Pakistan.
One class, and a precise list of goods or services in it. Not “all goods in Class 25” and not a paragraph of marketing copy. A short, specific list — for example, “clothing, namely shirts, trousers and jackets” — is examined faster and opposed less often than a vague claim to everything in the class.
Use or intent to use. Pakistan allows an application on the basis that you propose to use the mark, so a startup can file before launch. But be honest about it: claiming use you have not made, or filing for goods you have no intention of selling, weakens the registration if it is ever challenged.
Power of attorney, if you use an agent. Attorney filings are accompanied by a power of attorney on Form TM-48, duly stamped and notarised where required. If you file yourself as a Pakistani resident applicant, you do not need one — but confirm the current portal requirement before you submit, because portal checklists change.
Payment ready. The filing fee is paid by pay order or bank draft in the name of the Director General, IPO-Pakistan, or through the online portal’s payment step where available. A payment made out to the wrong payee is a classic, avoidable rejection.
How to register a trademark in Pakistan: step by step
Step 1: Run a search before you fall in love with the name
File Form TM-55 for an official search of the register for your mark in each class you plan to file in (Rs 1,000 per mark per class), or use IPO-Pakistan’s online search tools and a personal search at the Registry in Karachi, IPO headquarters in Islamabad or the regional office in Lahore, where personal search facilities are available for a small fee per 15 minutes. The search answers two questions: is an identical mark already registered in your class, and is a confusingly similar mark already there? A search is optional in the sense that nobody forces you to do one. It is not optional in any practical sense — filing blind is how you pay Rs 3,000 to discover, three months later, that your brand name already belongs to someone else.
Step 2: File Form TM-1
Submit the application on Form TM-1 to the Trade Marks Registry — online through IPO-Pakistan’s portal or at the Registry in Karachi or the regional offices in Islamabad and Lahore — with the applicant details, a clear representation of the mark, the class number and the list of goods or services, and the Rs 3,000 filing fee per class. You receive a filing receipt and an application number, and your filing date is fixed at this point. That date is what your rights run from, and what decides priority against later filings, so keep the receipt safe.
Step 3: Examination — and the objection letter
An examiner reviews the application for formal completeness, distinctiveness and conflicts with earlier marks. Several guides put the examination report at roughly 3 to 4 months after filing, with an acknowledgement receipt arriving within about 10 to 15 days. If the examiner objects — because the mark is descriptive or generic, because it conflicts with an earlier mark, or because the specification is unclear — you receive a Show Cause Notice and normally have 2 months from the notice to respond. This is the stage where a good response saves the application and a rushed one kills it. A descriptive name (“Best Biryani” for a restaurant) is a much harder objection to answer than a paperwork deficiency, so if your search already warned you the name was weak, this is the moment that warning pays for itself. Do not let the 2-month deadline pass: an unanswered objection can lead to the application being treated as abandoned.
Step 4: Publication in the Trade Marks Journal
If the application is accepted — either straight away or after your objection response succeeds — the mark is published in the Trade Marks Journal. Publication is not registration. It is a public notice that starts the opposition clock.
Step 5: The 2-month opposition period
For 2 months from publication, any third party who believes your mark conflicts with theirs can file an opposition. Most applications are never opposed, and silence for those 2 months is what you are hoping for. If an opposition is filed, the process becomes a contested proceeding with evidence and hearings, and the timeline stretches — opposition cases can add 12 to 24 months. That is the main reason published timelines vary so much: the unopposed path and the opposed path are effectively different processes sharing the same first few steps.
Step 6: Demand Notice, TM-11 fee and certificate
If no opposition is filed, or an opposition is decided in your favour, the Registrar issues a Demand Notice. Pay the Rs 9,000 registration fee on Form TM-11, and the Registration Certificate is issued. Your registration is then valid for 10 years from the filing date — not from the certificate date, which is another reason the filing date matters. Use the ® symbol only after registration; before that, ™ is the honest marking for a claimed but unregistered mark.
How long does it actually take?
Published estimates disagree, and the honest answer is to plan around the range rather than the most optimistic figure. Guides that track IPO-Pakistan’s process commonly quote 12 to 18 months for an unopposed application, some quote 8 to 14 months for a smooth online case, and a few quote 6 to 12 months. The differences come from which stages they count and how backlogged the Registry is in a given year — not from anyone inventing a number. A realistic planning table looks like this:
| Stage | Typical time (unopposed case) |
|---|---|
| Acknowledgement receipt after filing | 10–15 days |
| Examination report | About 3–4 months after filing |
| Objection response (if any) | 2 months from the notice, plus examination of your reply |
| Publication and opposition period | 2 months from publication |
| Demand Notice, TM-11 payment and certificate | 1–2 months after the opposition period closes |
| Total, unopposed | 12–18 months as a planning figure |
Treat any promise of a certificate in a few weeks with scepticism: the opposition period alone is 2 months by law, so a lawful registration cannot be completed faster than the process allows. And diary the renewal from day one — a registration that lapses because nobody tracked its 10-year anniversary is a brand left unprotected for want of a calendar entry.
After registration: renewal, use and enforcement
Registration lasts 10 years from the filing date and can be renewed indefinitely in further 10-year terms on Form TM-12 for Rs 15,000 per class. File the renewal before expiry; guides note a grace period after expiry on payment of an additional surcharge, but do not rely on the grace period as a plan — confirm the current renewal and surcharge rule on IPO-Pakistan’s fee schedule when the date approaches, and set the reminder a year early, not a month late.
Use the mark as registered. If you register a word mark and then redesign the logo, the word mark still protects the word, but the new logo is a new mark that needs its own filing if you want it protected as a logo. If you stop using the mark entirely for years, it becomes vulnerable to a removal action for non-use. And keep records: invoices, packaging, website screenshots and advertising under the mark are the evidence that proves use if anyone ever challenges you. For a freelancer or small business, that record-keeping is also just good business hygiene — the same discipline that makes creating a proper invoice as a freelancer worth doing from day one, because the paper trail is what backs up the claim.
Enforcement is where the certificate earns its fee. With a registration you can send a credible cease-and-desist, ask a marketplace to take down a copycat listing, and sue for infringement with the certificate as your starting evidence. Without one, you are relying on passing-off — proving reputation and confusion from scratch, which is slower, costlier and harder. That gap is the real return on the Rs 12,000: not the certificate on the wall, but the shortcut it gives you the first time someone copies you.
The Madrid route, briefly
If you already have a trademark application or registration in your home country and want protection in several countries at once, you can designate Pakistan through WIPO’s Madrid System instead of filing directly with IPO-Pakistan. The fees are then paid to WIPO in Swiss francs, with a Pakistani individual fee per class, and the examination in Pakistan follows the same substantive rules. For a business that only needs Pakistan, the direct TM-1 route is simpler and the Rs 12,000 figure above is the one to budget. For a business already filing internationally, ask your attorney to price the Madrid designation alongside the direct route before choosing — the cheaper route depends on how many countries you are covering, not on Pakistan alone.
Mistakes that cost time, money or the mark itself
Filing in the wrong class. The classic error, and the most expensive, because it cannot be fixed by amendment — it needs a new filing, a new fee and a new filing date.
Skipping the search. Rs 1,000 saved, Rs 3,000 filing fee wasted, three months lost, and a rebrand forced at the worst moment.
Choosing a descriptive name. Generic and descriptive words (“Fresh”, “Best”, “Pakistan” plus your product) are the hardest marks to register. A distinctive, invented or suggestive name clears examination far more easily than a name that merely describes what you sell.
Registering in your own name when the company should own it. If the business is a company, the company should be the applicant. Sorting out ownership after a funding round or a sale is slow and avoidable.
Missing the 2-month objection deadline. Diarise every IPO-Pakistan notice the day it arrives. A missed deadline can abandon an otherwise good application.
Treating publication as registration. Until the Demand Notice is paid and the certificate issues, you do not have a registration — and you should not claim that you do, to a marketplace or a partner.
Forgetting renewal. A 10-year registration is only valuable if it is still alive in year 11. Set the reminder now, not in year 9.
One last practical point, especially for freelancers and small sellers: protect the brand before you scale it, not after. A PSEB registration for freelancers and a trademark registration are different tools — one certifies you as an IT freelancer, the other protects your brand name — but the logic is the same: the cheap, early registration is the one that saves the expensive, late rescue. And once the brand is protected, the unglamorous foundations still matter: a proper business bank account (see our comparison of the best bank accounts for freelancers in Pakistan) and a tax profile that matches the business name on the certificate are what make the brand usable, not just registered.
Frequently asked questions
How much does trademark registration cost in Pakistan?
Rs 12,000 per class in government fees: Rs 3,000 to file (TM-1) plus Rs 9,000 on registration (TM-11). An optional official search (TM-55) adds Rs 1,000 per class. Lawyer or agent fees are separate.
How long does trademark registration take in Pakistan?
Plan on 12 to 18 months for an unopposed application. The opposition period alone is 2 months, and objections or an opposition can extend the process to 2 years or more.
Can I file a trademark myself, or do I need a lawyer?
A Pakistani resident applicant can file directly through IPO-Pakistan’s portal or at the Registry. A lawyer is not legally required for a straightforward filing, but is worth the fee if your mark is descriptive, faces an objection, or is opposed — and foreign applicants normally file through an authorised attorney in Pakistan.
Do I need a registered company or an NTN before filing a trademark?
No. An individual can file a trademark application. A company or NTN is a separate matter — but if the business is a company, the company, not you personally, should be the applicant so the certificate belongs to the business.
How long is a trademark valid in Pakistan?
10 years from the filing date, renewable indefinitely in 10-year terms on Form TM-12 for Rs 15,000 per class.
Can one application cover multiple classes?
No, not on the direct route. Each class needs its own TM-1 application and its own fee. A brand spanning three classes is three applications.
What happens if someone opposes my trademark?
The opposition becomes a contested proceeding before the Registrar, with evidence and hearings. It can add 12 to 24 months. Many oppositions settle — for example, by limiting the list of goods — but you should budget time and, usually, legal help if one is filed.
Featured image: Photo by Eva Bronzini on Pexels (free to use).
Facts checked 2 November 2026 against IPO-Pakistan’s fee schedule (First Schedule, Trade Marks Rules 2004, as substituted w.e.f. 9 March 2019) and multiple practitioner guides citing it; fees, portal steps and processing times can change by notification, so confirm the current figures on ipo.gov.pk on the day you file.
