IPO-Pakistan takes intellectual property services to Gujranwala

October 22, 2026 (MLN): The Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan (IPO-Pakistan) has opened an Intellectual Property Facilitation Desk at the Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and held an awareness session with the All Pakistan Aluminium Utensils Manufacturers Association (APAUMA), as it works to bring its services closer to one of the country’s major industrial centres.

The desk will guide entrepreneurs, manufacturers and businesses on registering and protecting trademarks, patents and industrial designs, helping local producers build their competitiveness in domestic and international markets. I

PO-Pakistan Director General Nauman Aslam Sheikh said the trademark application backlog has been cut sharply over the past year, with the registration period down from about two years to roughly eight months, and added that an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism is being put in place for timely settlement of IP disputes, according to a press release issued.

Nauman Aslam Sheikh inaugurated the desk during his visit to Gujranwala, accompanied by Mueed Aman Rana, Director/In-charge of the IPO-Pakistan Regional Office Lahore, Shakra Khursheed, Senior Examiner (Patents), and other officials.

Addressing the business community, he said IP protection is essential for safeguarding business interests, encouraging innovation and raising the commercial value of Pakistani products, and pointed to recent institutional reforms and better service delivery at the organisation.

The GCCI event was attended by its President, Ghulam Hussain Judge; Senior Vice President, Arshad Mughal; Vice President, Rana Muhammad Farhan Asghar; former President, Mian Umer Saleem; former Chairman GDA, Aamir Rehman; and former Vice President and Executive Member, Waqas Afzal Mughal, along with Executive Committee members and representatives of local industries.

The chamber leadership welcomed the desk and voiced confidence that it would help businesses understand and protect their IP rights.

Separately, Nauman Aslam Sheikh was chief guest at the APAUMA session, which covered trademark registration, brand protection, patents and industrial designs, and their relevance for manufacturers protecting their products, innovations and market identity.

Participants were urged to treat IP as a valuable commercial asset and make fuller use of the available legal mechanisms.

Both engagements are part of IPO-Pakistan’s wider push to strengthen ties with chambers, trade associations and industrial clusters across the country.

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