How to Register an Industrial Design in Pakistan

You do not have to be the person who drew it. If you commissioned a design and paid for it, you are the proprietor and you are the one who can register it.

And where two people create the same design independently, the one who files first wins. It is a race, not a judgement about who thought of it earlier.

We read the industrial design pages published by the Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan at ipo.gov.pk on 4 September 2026.

Who counts as the proprietor

IPO states that any person claiming to be the proprietor of any new or original design not previously published anywhere in the world may apply, and that the applicant need not be the author.

The definition comes from section 2(b) of the Registered Designs Ordinance, 2000, and "person" includes a company, body corporate, firm or partnership.

That first row is the useful one for businesses. If you engaged a designer for good consideration to produce work for you, the proprietor is you, not the designer. It is still worth having that written into the engagement rather than relying on it after a dispute starts.

Published anywhere in the world, and it is gone

The requirement is a design "not previously published anywhere in the world". That is the same trap that ends patent applications, and it catches product businesses constantly.

Putting the product on a website, showing it at a trade fair, posting photographs of it, or selling it can all amount to publication. By the time a competitor copies it and you decide to register, the design may no longer be registrable.

File before you launch, not after the copies appear. Our guide to registering a patent in Pakistan covers the equivalent rule for inventions, including the narrow exhibition exception that exists there.

Filing first decides a tie

IPO states that where two or more persons have created the same design independently of each other, the person whose application has the earliest filing date, or the earliest validly claimed priority date, has the right to registration, so long as that application is not withdrawn, abandoned or rejected.

So independent creation is not a defence and not a claim. The register goes to whoever got there first. In a market where several manufacturers arrive at similar product shapes, that is the whole contest.

What an application needs

IPO lists the components, and one of them surprises people.

1. The application on the prescribed form.
2. The prescribed number of representations of the design, or a specimen of the article bearing it.
3. The prescribed fee.
4. An affidavit in accordance with Rule 63B.
5. A separate application for each class you want to register in.

The affidavit is a formal sworn document, not a form you tick, so allow time for it. And the class point matters commercially: if the same design will appear on products in different classes, that is several applications and several fees, not one.

Six months, or it is abandoned

This is the deadline that quietly kills applications.

IPO states that an application which, owing to any default or neglect on the part of the applicant, is not completed so as to enable registration to be effected within six months of the date of application, is deemed to be abandoned.

Deemed abandoned means you do not get a warning letter and a second chance. If the Registrar raises an objection and you leave it sitting, the clock runs against you. Diary the six months from the filing date and treat every query as urgent.

Claiming priority from another country

If you have already filed in a WTO member country, you can carry that date to Pakistan.

Under section 11 of the Ordinance, an application in Pakistan filed within six months of the priority country filing can claim priority. It is made on Form-16, within six months of the first foreign application, with four identical representations.

You must also file a copy of the representation or specimen deposited abroad, certified by the head of that country's patent office or otherwise verified to the Registrar's satisfaction, either with the application or within three months afterwards. If it is in another language, an English translation verified by statutory declaration must be annexed.

The same works in reverse for a Pakistani filing used to claim priority abroad.

A design is not a patent or a trademark

The three get confused, and picking wrong wastes the novelty window.

An industrial design protects how a product looks. A patent protects how an invention works, covered in our guide to patent registration. A trademark protects a name or logo that distinguishes your goods, covered in our guide to trademark registration in Pakistan. Written and artistic work is copyright, in our guide to copyright registration.

Designs are registered under the Registered Designs Ordinance, 2000 and the Registered Designs Rules, 2023, which is a separate regime from all three.

Common questions

Can I register a design somebody else drew for me?

Yes. IPO states the applicant need not be the author, and where work is executed for another person for good consideration, that person is the proprietor.

Can I register after launching the product?

The design must not have been previously published anywhere in the world, so publication before filing is a serious problem. File first.

Two of us designed the same thing separately. Who gets it?

Whoever has the earliest filing date, or the earliest validly claimed priority date.

What does an application include?

The prescribed form, representations or a specimen, the prescribed fee, and an affidavit under Rule 63B.

How long do I have to complete it?

Six months from the date of application, after which it is deemed abandoned if incomplete through the applicant's default.

Can I use a foreign filing date?

Yes, from a WTO member country, on Form-16 within six months, with four identical representations and a certified copy of the foreign filing.

Last checked and sources

Last checked 4 September 2026. We read the industrial design pages published by the Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan at ipo.gov.pk on that date. That any person claiming to be the proprietor of any new or original design not previously published anywhere in the world may apply and need not be the author, the definition of proprietor or creator under section 2(b) of the Registered Designs Ordinance, 2000 covering work executed for another for good consideration, vesting by assignment, transmission or operation of law, the earliest filing or validly claimed priority date where two or more persons create the same design independently, and the author or successor in any other case, with person including a company, body corporate, firm or partnership; the requirements of a prescribed form, the prescribed number of representations or a specimen of the article, the prescribed fee and an affidavit in accordance with Rule 63B; the need for a separate application in each class; the section 11 priority arrangements for WTO member countries with a six month window, Form-16, four identical representations, a certified copy of the foreign representation filed with the application or within three months, and an English translation verified by statutory declaration where needed; and the deeming of an application as abandoned where it is not completed within six months of the date of application owing to the applicant's default or neglect, are all taken from those pages. We did not read the Registered Designs Ordinance, 2000 or the Rules of 2023 themselves, and no fee amount or processing time is quoted here. Confirm the current fee, forms and prescribed numbers with IPO-Pakistan before filing. Nothing here is legal advice.