Pakistan

Much of the IP work at Lahore-based ABS & Co. comes from deals involving software licensing, royalty arrangements and patent issues. It has advised Microsoft in relation to the development of an IP enforcement strategy in Pakistan and its subsequent execution against piracy; Lafarge Pakistan Cement in bringing infringement proceedings against Flying Cement Company for a total value of more than PRs500 million (US$1.8 million); China Three Gorges in relation to the development of its IP protection policy and potential commercialization under Pakistani law; a high-net individual in relation to a dispute with Emirates over copyright infringement in a photograph; and the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan in the matter pending before the European Commission for the registration of “Basmati” as a geographical indication. Partner Majid Bashir in Islamabad heads the firm’s IP practice; he is the national consultant for WIPO in Pakistan. 

Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property’s Pakistan office boasts an IP practice covering trademarks, patents, copyrights, designs and domain names. With head offices in Jordan, the firm has been instrumental in the improvement of IP ecosystems in Arab countries, working closely with their governments and multilateral organizations. Sa’eed Odeh is the primary contact in Karachi. 

Akhund Forbes is noted for its TMT practice, led by Rabel Akhund, who is also the firm’s founder and managing partner, who advised Facebook/Meta on the regulatory landscape of the provision of telecommunications and IT services in Pakistan. It also advised The Cheez Group, a Chinese ecommerce company, on its investments in the ecommerce industry in Pakistan. Rabel Akhund has practiced for more than two decades in Pakistan, London and internationally.  

Founded in 1972, Ali & Associates is an internationally-recognized law firm specializing in IP, media and IT. The firm was named Pakistan copyright and patent firm of the year at the 2023 Asia IP Awards. The firm is led by senior partner Syed Auqil Ali Shah and managing partner Karimullah Adeni. The team is well-known for enforcement and litigation work, and has represented domestic and foreign clients in the cosmetic, chemical, textile, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, machinery, electronic, automobile and agriculture sectors. The firm has domestic offices in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore, and foreign offices in Kabul and the Washington area. Ali & Associates celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022. 

One of the fastest-growing law firms in the region, Lahore-based ALIPA (Abeed Legal & IP Attorneys) provides IP services covering trademarks, designs, copyrights, patents, and domain names. These include filing, registration, renewal, opposition, licensing, assignments, post registration procedures, opinions and counseling, prosecution, due diligence and litigation. The firm, which has several regional offices, delivers these solutions to startups and Fortune 500 companies alike, fueled by its lawyers’ outstanding technical and litigation expertise. This team of legal professionals is led by founder and managing partner Muhammad Abeed Atif who specializes in corporate matters, IP laws and technology laws. Managing partner Khadija Ijaz is the latest addition to the group. 

Audiri Vox works in Pakistan in partnership with Minto, Saram & Usman. 

Axis Law Chambers has offices in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. Partner Sameer Khosa has more than 14 years of constitutional and commercial dispute resolution experience, representing both the private and public sector. Sameer has also represented clients in intellectual property disputes and election disputes, prosecuted white-collar crimes, advised on disputed inheritance claims, handled tax litigation and represented clients in a wide array of sectors including information technology, travel and leisure, telecoms, FMCGs and NPOs. He routinely represents commercial parties in disputes and transactions, including advising start-ups and fintechs, as well as regulators such as the State Bank of Pakistan. 

Founded by Abdur Bharucha in 1948, Bharucha & Co is one of the oldest firms for patent and trademark prosecution work in Karachi. The firm collaborates with an IP-focused investigation agency, so time-restricted projects can be handled swiftly. It has developed an extensive and dynamic network of law firms in neighbouring countries, mainly South Asian and Gulf countries, to assure its clients of reliable assistance in said jurisdictions. The law firm filed an opposition against the application for registration of a local company’s trademark on behalf of a foreign company – the real proprietor of the trademark – whose marks are already in use in many countries. The opposition was allowed and the local company’s application was refused for registration. Farzana Rustom, Qamar Uddin, Hameeda Asif, Saira Osman Bhatty and Mohammad Fazil Bharucha are key IP practitioners in the firm, which has recently expanded to offer general legal services. 

Daudpota International is a frontrunner in the legal services industry in South Asia and the Middle East with offices in the UAE, Sri Lanka and in Karachi. Managing partner Junaid Daudpota, who specializes in competition law, IP, commercial and financial law, is a key practitioner in the firm’s UAE and Pakistan offices. The firm is led by senior partner Faisal Daudpota who worked on IP projects for the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development and co-authored the digital signatures law and IP laws for the Dubai International Financial Center. 

Haidermota & Co. is a market leader in the financial technology space. It has assisted in the establishment of the first integrated payments switch in Pakistan, called 1LINK (Guarantee) Limited (1LINK), which created the necessary infrastructure to enable the ATM, inter-bank fund transfer, point-of-sale, and bill payment transactions that are common today. Its role in providing legal advice in the digital payments space has substantially increased due to its understanding of the regulatory concerns of the State Bank of Pakistan and its history of advising financial institutions in Pakistan. The firm also advises clients on regulations related to data protection. Senior partner Khozem Haidermota is a key contact for such matters. 

Since 2002, Hamayuns has been a specialty firm for IP matters on trademarks, patents, copyright and design. Partners Saad Nusrullah and Mohsin Nusrullah lead the firm in a wide range of services including registration, opposition, assignment, franchising and litigation. The firm has launched a practice to provide IP services elsewhere in the region, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India. 

Intellectual property and information technology are specialty areas of the firm Irfan & Irfan in Lahore. Partner Hasan Irfan Khan, a leader in the area of IT law in Pakistan, is a main contact. He was co-author of Pakistan’s country profile in Trademark Anticounterfeiting in Asia and the Pacific Rim, a publication by the International Trademark Association. The firm’s IP practice covers patents, copyrights and trademarks. 

Led by Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of Pakistan and managing and founding partner Mian Muhibullah Kakakhel, Kakakhel Law Associates comprises seven partners, six associates and two support members based in Peshawar. Advocate at the Supreme Court of Pakistan Tehmina Ambreen and advocate at the Peshawar High Court Saifullah Muhib Kakakhel are top practitioners who have handled hundreds of infringement cases. The firm has defended local publishers in a piracy lawsuit against Oxford University Press, Pakistan. 

Commercial law firm Khalid Anwer & Co. has 15 lawyers in offices in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Senior associate Adil Saeed has been with the firm since 2016 and appears regularly before the Superior Courts of Pakistan and Special Tribunals. He routinely advises clients on contentious and non-contentious matters. He has been a part of various landmark cases, including a public interest litigation where the firm successfully challenged an award of a government tender involving life-saving medicines, which was consequently set aside, and has played an active role in defending various anti-dumping duties levied by the National Tariff Commission. His clients include Procter & Gamble, Indus Motor Company, Teradata, National Foods, Gul Ahmed Textiles, Hilton Pharma and Sanofi-Aventis. 

Khursheed Khan & Associates is a national law firm established by Zulfiqar Khan, who is now a judge on the High Court of Sindh. Its lawyers have contributed to national IP laws and rules including the Trade Marks Ordinance 2000, the Patent Ordinance 2000, the Patent Rules, the Design Rules and the Integrated Circuit Rules. Julie Ismail is a contact at the firm. 

Technology law firm Lex Legal has a top fintech practice in Pakistan; the full-service firm also provides IP and IT services. Founder and managing partner Asad Salahuddin has played a key role in modernizing branchless and mobile banking in Pakistan, emoney transactions, integration of payment gateways, setting up of online marketplace platforms, and licensing of banking applications and analytical software. He was recognized as a contributor towards the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) assessment on Rapid Landscaping of Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture in Pakistan. The firm is based in Lahore. 

Liaquat Merchant Associates (LMA) is based in Karachi with a team of six partners and 15 associates, and a history spanning over 40 years. The firm’s managing partner is Liaquat H. Merchant; its senior partner is Faresa Jafarey Ahsan. LMA’s practice was originally focused on banking and finance, company law, corporate and commercial law and commercial litigation. As the firm has evolved, it has expanded its capabilities to provide non-contentious legal consultancy services across various practice areas, including IP, information technology, franchising and commercial distribution, pharmaceuticals and others. 

Majeed & Partners offers comprehensive solutions for protecting all types of intellectual property rights including trade and service marks, patents, copyright, registered designs, geographical indication marks, and domain names. Talha Mushtaq is an associate in the firm’s IP practice, and its corporate, internet, ecommence, cybersecurity, data privacy and data protection practice groups. Mushtaq practices in all areas of intellectual property law, and advises international and national clients on emerging issues of cybersecurity and retention, sharing, protection of data and privacy compliance. His practice also focuses on advising technology and fintech companies through all stages of their operations including formation, corporate and regulatory law compliance, stock option plans, equity compensation, seed funding, venture capital, exit transactions, privacy and data compliance. He also drafts and reviews technology-related contracts, technology and IP licensing and franchise agreements, and other agreements. 

Meer & Hasan, led by senior partners Farooq Amjad Meer and Salim Hasan and partner Zeeshan Ashraf Meer. Besides filing hundreds of patent and design applications for foreign clients such as World Wrestling Entertainment, H&M, BBC and Hugo Boss, the firm has handled trademark infringement cases for Nokia and Domino’s Pizza, receiving favourable decisions for both clients. 

Minto & Mirza dissolved in November 2023. The resulting firms are Minto, Saram & Usman and Mirza & Tahir. 

Minto, Saram & Usman (MSU) works in partnership with Audiri Vox, which has offices or affiliations in more than 50 countries. The firm caters to registration of trademarks and copyrights, and also represents clients in oppositions and objections. Partners Bilal Hasan Minto, Muhammad Saram Israr and Muhammad Usman, partners at the former Minto & Mirza founded MSU in 2023 in Lahore. In addition to IP, the firm practices in litigation, corporate advisory, family law and other practice areas. Minto is the son of Abid Hassan Minto, one of the country’s most eminent constitutional lawyers and a political and civic leader.  

Based in Lahore, Rana Ijaz & Partners comprises three lawyers. Managing partner Rana Ijaz Ahmed Khan and partner Rana Muhammad Ahmad provide assistance on a variety of matters, including technology transfer, licensing, remittance, accounting of damages for infringement, verification of royalty and license fee, product packaging, trade secrets and anti-piracy. They also work with international associates to obtain corresponding protection in countries outside Pakistan, as well as to represent clients in litigation and alternative dispute resolution. 

Founded in 1827 by Henry Remfry, Remfry & Son, located in Karachi, is a venerable law firm providing IP services in the fields of trademarks, domain names, patents, designs and copyright. 

Founded in February 1948 in Karachi by the late Sheikh Fazal Ellahi, Sheikh Brothers is an IP boutique providing services covering all aspects of IP including patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyright, unfair competition, licensing, franchising, technology transfer, litigation and enforcement. Amongst two partners, four associates and 10 other staff members, Salman Ahmed Sheikh stands out of the crowd and represents well with clients at all forums including the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The firm was named trademark firm of the year at the 2023 Asia IP Awards. 

Surridge & Beecheno was founded in 1948 by two British barristers, Charles Surridge and Peter Beecheno. The firm has expanded with branch offices in Lahore and Dubai. The firm has a department specializing in trademarks and patents but also advises on copyright and other IP matters. The firm represents the Trademark Owners Association and Wal-Mart, and is the honourary legal advisor to the British High Commission and the Swiss Embassy in Pakistan. 

Based in Lahore, United Trademark & Patent Services offers services including anti-counterfeiting, administrative actions, and raids and seizures; arbitration and dispute resolution; acquisition and divestiture of trademarks; as well as enforcement, due diligence, investigation, inspection, litigation and portfolio management. Yawar Irfan Khan and Hasan Irfan Khan are top practitioners at the firm. 

Vellani & Vellani was established in 1937 and is located in Karachi. Partners Badaruddin Vellani and Ameen Vellani have extensive corporate law practice in most prosecution work and, together, they lead a team which advises on matters related to trademarks, patents, copyright, domain names and anti-counterfeiting to both domestic and MNC clients as well as government agencies in fields such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, vehicles and computer software. Erum Rasheed, who filed 20% of the total applications filed in Pakistan, is a key patent practitioner, Khushnum Muncherji is a key contact for copyright work and Seema Mansoor is a good contact for trademark matters. Other key contacts include Sana Shaikh and Dilshad Bharucha. 

Zain Sheikh is senior counsel at Zain Sheikh & Associates and a senior professor at the Sindh Muslim Government Law College in Karachi. Sheikh is highly recommended for IP litigation work. Clients say he has a tremendous understanding of the law. The firm also advises on banking and finance, corporate law, M&A, aviation law and corporate taxation.