Registration of Patents in Pakistan:

Laws of Pakistan regarding Patents

• Patents Ordinance, 2000

• Patents Rules, 2003
•
Patents Office was an attached department of the Ministry of
Industries & Production established in 1948, however, it is
currently part of IPO Pakistan under the Cabinet Division.

What is Patent?

A patent is a grant from the Government, which confers on

the grantee, for a limited term of 20 years, the following
acts, namely:

When patents has been granted in respect of a

product:

• Making, importing, offering for sale, selling and using

the product
• Stocking such product for the purposes of offering for
sale, selling or using
When the patents has been granted in respect of a
process:

• Using the process

• Doing any of the acts referred to in clause (a) in
respect of a product obtained directly by means of the
process

What are the advantages of patenting?

Patenting has the following distinct advantages:

A patentee's right to the exclusive use of his invention would
not be prejudiced by the fact that his invention is made
known to others
The said exclusive right could be enforced legally
The protection enjoyed under the patents would enable the
patentee to raise capital for working the invention on a
commercial scale
If the patentee were not himself in a position to work the
invention commercially, he would be able to make a
profitable use of the invention by selling his patent, or by
granting licenses to others permitting the use of his
invention
Even where the inventor does not desire to earn profits by
the use of his invention, a patent would enable him grant
licenses judiciously, so as to secure on the one hand,
sufficient inducement to manufacturers to take up the
working of the invention, and on the other hand, to confer
the benefit of his invention on the largest possible section of
the public
A patent would enable the inventor to establish an official
record of his invention

What are patentable inventions in Pakistan?

In order to be patentable an invention should have the

following characteristics:

• The invention must be new.

• It involves an inventive step.
• It is capable of industrial application.
• It should not be contrary to law or morality
What inventions are not patentable in Pakistan?

The following inventions are not patentable in Pakistan:

• Discoveries of laws of nature

• Productions
 • Method of producing sound
• Computer programs (Software)
• Perpetual motion machines
• A method of writing music
• A fancy name for an article
• A trade mark
• The discovery of new properties of known substance
• A system of alphabet
• Chemical & pharmaceutical product (till 2004)
• A system of shorthand
• Literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works
• Doctor's prescriptions and patent medicines
• A system of indexing
• Mere charts, diagrams, or printed sheets
• A surgical operation
• Articles harmful to public heath & their prosperity
• Treatment of human beings, animals, flowers & plants
• Purely scientific & mathematical formulas & principles

Varieties of Patents

Four kinds of Patents are granted under the Patents

Ordinance, which are as follows:

• An ordinary patent, which is dated as of the official

date of the application for the patent
• A black/mail box application relating to chemical
products intended for use in agriculture and medicines.
The application will be kept dormant until 31st
December 2004
• A patent claiming "Priority", which is dated as of the
official date of the corresponding application for patent
first made in a country which is the member of WTO
(World Trade Organisation)
• A patent of addition, for improvement or modification
of an invention for which a patent has already been
applied for or granted
Outline of the Procedure:

Steps for obtaining a patent are as follows:

• Filing the "Application", accompanied by either a

Provisional or a Complete Specification
• Filing the Complete Specification, if the Specification
filed with the Application was a Provisional Specification
• Examination and acceptance of application by the
Patent Office
• Overcoming opposition, if any, to the grant of patent
• Sealing the patent

A Patent application must be accompanied by prescribed fee

and the specification filed with the application should contain
a reasonable description of the invention.