Restoration Of Lapsed Patents & Trademarks At IPO Pakistan

Missed your renewal deadline? How to legally restore and revive lapsed patents and dead trademarks at IPO Pakistan under the Patents Ordinance and Trade Marks Ordinance.

By Syed Asad Hussain Zaidi · 10 September 2026

Managing IP Deadlines in Pakistan Intellectual property rights are not perpetual by default; they must be actively maintained. Trademarks require renewal every 10 years, while patents demand annual annuity payments to remain in force. Missing these statutory deadlines results in the rights "lapsing"—essentially falling into the public domain where competitors can exploit them freely. However, both the Trade Marks Ordinance 2001 and the Patents Ordinance 2000 provide safety nets allowing proprietors to resurrect their lapsed rights at IPO Pakistan, provided they act swiftly. This guide covers the legal procedures for reviving dead IP in Tax Year 2026-27. --- Restoration of Lapsed Trademarks A trademark in Pakistan is registered for a period of 10 years. If the renewal fee is not paid before the expiration date, the mark will eventually be removed from the Register. The Grace Period (Form TM-12 + Surcharge) Before removing a mark, the Registrar issues a notice (O-3). If you miss the exact deadline, you still have a 6-month grace period from the expiration date to renew the mark by filing Form TM-12, accompanied by the standard renewal fee plus a statutory late surcharge. Restoration After Removal (Form TM-13) If the 6-month grace period passes and the mark is officially removed from the Register and published in the Trade Marks Journal as "removed," it is considered dead. However, you can still apply for Restoration within 6 months to 1 year of the expiration date by filing Form TM-13 with heavy restoration penalties. [!WARNING] The Registrar has discretionary power over restoration. You must satisfy the Registrar that it is "just" to restore the mark. If a third party has filed a conflicting mark while yours was dead, restoration becomes highly contested. --- Restoration of Lapsed Patents Patents are much stricter than trademarks. To keep a 20-year patent alive, the proprietor must pay an annual renewal fee starting from the 4th year. If a single annuity is missed, the patent ceases to have effect. The 6-Month Grace Period If you miss an annual renewal deadline, the Patents Ordinance grants a 6-month grace period. During these six months, you can pay the delayed annuity along with a monthly late surcharge to keep the patent alive without losing rights. Formal Restoration Process (Section 23) If the 6-month grace period expires, the patent is officially dead. To resurrect it, you must file a formal application for restoration under Section 23 of the Patents Ordinance within 18 months from the date the patent ceased to have effect. The Burden of Proof: The proprietor must provide compelling evidence (affidavits, medical records, administrative correspondence) proving that the failure to pay the renewal fee was unintentional and that there was no undue delay in applying for restoration once the omission was discovered. Financial inability to pay is generally not accepted as a valid excuse for unintentional failure. --- The Intervening Rights Problem When a patent or trademark lapses, there is a "gap" in protection. What happens if a competitor notices your patent is dead and starts manufacturing your invention during this gap period? If the IPO eventually restores your patent, the law protects the competitor who acted in good faith while the patent was dead. The IPO will insert "Intervening Rights" clauses into the restoration order. This means the competitor is legally permitted to continue manufacturing and selling the product they started making during the gap, and you cannot sue them for infringement for those specific actions. This is why allowing IP to lapse is incredibly dangerous—even if restored, your monopoly may be permanently fractured. --- Best Practices for IP Docketing To prevent the disastrous consequences of lapsed IP, modern businesses rely on stringent docketing systems: Centralized IP Management: Use specialized IP management software that tracks deadlines globally, rather than relying on Excel sheets. Redundant Reminders: Set 90-day, 60-day, 30-day, and immediate internal alarms before an annuity or renewal is due. Appoint Local Counsel: Ensure your local Pakistani IP attorney is formally on record, as the IPO will send statutory O-3 notices directly to the registered agent. Update Contact Details: If your company moves headquarters, immediately record a Change of Address with the IPO via Form TM-16. Many rights lapse simply because the renewal notice was mailed to an old address. --- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) What if 2 years have passed since my trademark expired? Once the 1-year absolute statutory deadline for restoration has passed, the trademark is irrevocably dead. You cannot restore it. You must file a completely new application from scratch and undergo the entire 18-month examination and publication process again. Can an opposed patent application lapse? Annuities are due even while a patent application is pending examination or opposition. If you fail to pay annuities during the application phase, the application will be deemed abandoned. Do I need to pay all missed years upon restoration? Yes. To restore a patent, you must pay the restoration fee, plus all the backlogged annual renewal fees that accumulated while the patent was dead. Is the restoration process public? Yes. For patents, the application for restoration is published in the Patent Journal. Any interested third party has 60 days to file a formal opposition against your restoration attempt if they believe your failure to renew was actually intentional.