The Government of Pakistan has adopted new ordinances relating to patents and designs, replacing the former legislation which had been in effect since 1911. Additionally a new ordinance for the first time provides for protection of integrated circuits.

The new patent ordinance came into effect on December 2, 2000. The main changes from the previous law are set out below.

The definition of a patentable invention is modernized so as to include chemical products so that now the exclusions are limited to the following, which are not regarded as inventions:

and the following, which although they may be inventions are not regarded as being patentable:

To take advantage of the provisions of TRIPS applying to the least developed countries, the new definition of what is patentable will not come fully into effect with respect to chemical products intended for use in agriculture or medicines until January 1, 2005. Until then the previous provisions relating to black box or mail box filings and the possibility of exclusive marketing rights remain in effect.

The new definition replaces the old provision that for something to be destructive of novelty there had to be prior publication or use in Pakistan with a requirement that to be patentable there must have been no disclosure of the invention to the public in any form, tangible or oral, anywhere in the world. The ordinance additionally states that the contents of accepted Pakistani applications and priority documents submitted in respect of them shall be considered for novelty purposes but it is not clear whether these documents are deemed to become part of the state of the art as of their acceptance date or the dates on which they were filed. There is a one year grace period in respect of disclosures made as a result of a breach of confidence or if the information was obtained unlawfully or if the disclosure was the result of the inventor displaying the invention at an international or official exhibition.

In addition to these changes, power is now given to the Controller to request information as to the prosecution of equivalent applications in other countries and failure to comply with such a request is punishable by a fine.

Under the new ordinance, as long as the necessary maintenance fees are paid, the maximum duration of a patent will be twenty years from the filing date of the application giving rise to it.

Although Pakistan has still not yet joined the Paris Convention, the new ordinance does provide a right of priority for nationals of countries that are members of the WTO and it appears that such claims are being recognized in pending applications filed before the new ordinance came into effect as long as the relevant requirements were met.

The new design ordinance came into effect on September 7, 2000.

The most significant change from the former law seems to be the new definition of the requirement that the design be "new and original". A design will not be registrable under the new law, if the design is the same as a design that "has been registered in Pakistan or published anywhere in the world in respect of the same or any other article or differs from such a design only in immaterial details or in features which are variants commonly used in the trade". There is, however, a one year grace period with respect to acts of the applicant or his predecessor in title or as a result of an abuse of the applicant or his predecessor in title by a third party.

Under the new ordinance, the initial term of protection is ten years, which term may be renewed for two further periods of ten years.

Under the ordinance, protection is given for layout designs for integrated circuits which are "the result of the creator's own intellectual effort and [is] not commonplace among creators and manufacturers of layout designs at the time of [its] creation". Protection is for a period of ten years from first commercial exploitation anywhere in the world and requires the filing of an application for protection before or within two years of first commercial exploitation. In addition to providing for civil remedies for infringement, the ordinance also provides for criminal penalties, including the possibility of imprisonment for up to two years.