KARACHI: Foreign inve­s­tors are showing keen interest in Pakistan as a number of major global brands have approached the Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO) for the registration of their trademarks.

Data provided by Karachi’s trademark registrar office reveals that 11 per cent of the 26,055 applications filed for the trademark registration in 2016 were for foreign brands.

Out of 8,882 applications for the registration of foreign brands, 3,904 requests were from the United Kingdom, followed by the United States 1,164, China 828, Germany 488, Japan 267, France 154, South Korea 132, India 85, Singapore 50 and Australia 26.

A majority of trademark registration applications from the local market related to the pharmaceutical, food, cos­m­etics and clothing sectors.

Trademark Registrar Aftab Muhammad Khan said on Friday the business environment in Pakistan improved during the last three years, which is reflected in the increased number of trademark registration applications in 2016. The number of such applications went up 24pc year-on-year in 2016.

There has also been a 23pc rise in trademark registry certificates, which stood at 9,759 in 2016 against 7,914 in the preceding year.

The trademark registrar said Pakistan is going to sign the Madrid Protocol of Intellectual Property Rights, which will bring the country into the mainstream of international trade and business.

Applications for registering trademarks in Pakistan can be filed at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) head office in Geneva, which forwards the same to the trademark office in Pakistan.

Local trademark, copyright and patent laws are being revised to meet the requirements of the Madrid Protocol. The IPO has acquired space in the new building of Pakistan Broadcasting House to bring all intellectual property offices under one roof.

The department expects a floodgate of applications after the signing of the Madrid Protocol by Pakistan.

Previously, accepted trademark applications were published in the Trademark Journal, which was usually delayed and not available on a monthly basis. The delay caused a huge backlog of applications waiting for their turn to be published in the journal.

Consequently, amendments were made in trademark rules to give legal cover to the digital copy of the trademark application, which is available on the IPO website.

The registrar said the entire record of trademarks has been digitised. A regional trademark office is now functional in Lahore to facilitate the business community in Punjab and Northern Areas.

To a question, Mr Khan said it takes about 15 to 18 months to register a trademark if no opposition is received against it.

Published in Dawn January 1st, 2017