Four decades of institutional IP experience
Since 1985, Khursheed Khan & Associates has helped clients identify what is worth protecting, secure the right form of protection and put intellectual property to work. Experience accumulated across more than 30,000 matters enables the firm to connect prosecution, enforcement, litigation, technology and commercial advice with each client’s wider business strategy in Pakistan and across borders.
The firm
Khursheed Khan & Associates was established in Karachi in 1985 and has grown through continuous involvement in the development, protection, commercialisation and enforcement of intellectual property. More than 30,000 matters and cases have contributed to an institutional body of knowledge extending from routine portfolio administration to precedent-setting litigation and technically complex commercial disputes.
A significant stage in the firm’s international development came in 1995, when Timothy Wace Roberts (1937–2018), the eminent UK patent attorney who later served as President of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys from 2001 to 2002, joined KKA as an Associate and assumed responsibility for the firm’s London office uptill 2018. Working together with the firm’s Pakistan team, he helped coordinate and conduct numerous matters of an international character, strengthening KKA’s ability to connect domestic rights, foreign proceedings and cross-border legal strategy.
In 1998, KKA entered into an association with Japanese counsel Masuo Kuroishi to strengthen its support for clients with commercial and intellectual property interests involving Japan. The association assists mutual clients in liaising effectively with Japanese companies and obtaining legal protection for their trade marks, brands and related rights across Pakistan and the Middle East. This longstanding professional relationship continues to support cross-border coordination, enforcement strategy and responsive local representation.
The firm’s development has not been confined to client representation. Its institutional history embraces participation in the making of Pakistan’s modern intellectual property framework, contributions to professional and governmental committees, representation of Pakistan in international forums, legal scholarship, judicial experience and sustained engagement with technology and dispute-resolution reform.
Today, the firm serves multinational corporations, international law firms, research-led businesses, manufacturers, financial institutions, technology enterprises and emerging companies. Every instruction benefits from knowledge accumulated over four decades rather than the isolated experience of a single matter or individual professional.
Meet our professionals →The firm’s experience spans trade marks, patents, designs, copyright, technology, media, competition, commercial arrangements, investigations, anti-counterfeiting and litigation. Patterns identified across thousands of instructions inform efficient risk assessment, evidence strategy and commercially realistic advice.
The firm’s institutional heritage includes principal authorship of the Trade Marks Ordinance, 2001; contributions to patent, technology and regulatory frameworks; engagement with governmental reform bodies; and preparation of the Pakistan Patent Office Work Manual pursuant to a WIPO assignment.
Timothy Wace Roberts joined KKA as an Associate in 1995 and headed the firm’s London office. An eminent UK patent attorney and President of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys from 2001 to 2002, he worked closely with the firm’s Pakistan practice on numerous matters of an international character. The collaboration established an enduring model of coordinated cross-border advice, combining knowledge of Pakistan law with experienced overseas counsel.
In 1998, KKA entered into an association with Japanese counsel Masuo Kuroishi to strengthen its support for clients with commercial and intellectual property interests involving Japan. The association assists mutual clients in liaising effectively with Japanese companies and obtaining legal protection for their trade marks, brands and related rights across Pakistan and the Middle East. This longstanding professional relationship continues to support cross-border coordination, enforcement strategy and responsive local representation.
KKA spearheaded the international legal defence of Pakistan’s agricultural heritage against an attempt by a United States corporation to patent and monopolise rights associated with the Basmati name. Working with renowned international legal experts, including Timothy Wace Roberts, the firm developed the strategy through which the challenged claims were defeated. The matter was complemented by KKA’s contribution to Pakistan’s foundational geographical-indication and trade mark frameworks, helping protect the interests of farmers, exporters and the wider rice industry. The outcome affirmed Basmati’s status as a traditional heritage product of the Indus Basin and became an important reference point in the international response to biopiracy and the protection of geographical identity.
The firm’s accumulated experience includes representation of Pakistan before WIPO and the WTO TRIPS Council, assistance connected with Pakistan’s accession to the World Trade Organization, and longstanding participation in international associations concerned with intellectual property, licensing, arbitration and commercial law.
The firm and its professionals have contributed Pakistan analysis to IFLR, Financial Times publications, INTA resources, World Trademark Review, the Life Sciences Law Review, Trade Mark World, the AIPPI Journal and IP Frontline—connecting day-to-day practice with international legal scholarship.
Inside Intellectual Property House
KKA’s Karachi office brings its professionals, institutional records and client-service systems together under one roof, supporting confidential collaboration and continuity across complex matters.
Our approach
A registration has real value only when it supports a commercial purpose: securing market position, attracting investment, enabling licensing, controlling risk, deterring imitation or strengthening a transaction. KKA begins with the client’s objective and builds the legal strategy around it.
Understand the innovation, brand, creative asset, market opportunity and competitive risk before deciding what should be protected.
Combine trade marks, patents, designs, copyright, contracts and confidentiality measures in a proportionate filing and protection strategy.
Align portfolios with product launches, investment, licensing, distribution, collaboration, technology transfer and international expansion.
Use watching, investigations, evidence, customs measures, oppositions, negotiated solutions and litigation to preserve commercial space.
Advice is shaped by legal strength, technical understanding, commercial context and the practical realities of the forum.
Defined responsibilities, intelligible reporting and coordinated deadlines keep domestic and international portfolios manageable.
Budgets and priorities are aligned with the value at stake so that legal expenditure supports, rather than obscures, business objectives.
Institutional record
The firm’s standing has been built cumulatively: through matters handled, laws shaped, institutions served, knowledge published and relationships maintained. That record is not presented as history for its own sake; it is the practical foundation for the advice delivered today.
Every prosecution, transaction, investigation, opposition, appeal and enforcement action adds to a shared body of precedents, procedural intelligence and commercial judgment. Clients receive the benefit of that collective experience through integrated teams, established systems and direct senior oversight.
The firm’s institutional experience encompasses legislative drafting, patent-office practice, governmental committees, judicial interpretation and the development of enforcement standards.
Work involving WIPO, the WTO, international professional associations and overseas counsel has helped align the firm’s reporting, strategy and service standards with global expectations.
Country chapters, reports, manuals and articles have made the firm’s Pakistan knowledge accessible to international businesses, counsel, institutions and researchers.
Pro Bono
Public-interest work forms an integral part of KKA’s institutional responsibility. The firm devotes selected professional time, legal research, training and advocacy to initiatives through which legal expertise can strengthen rights, improve institutions and support vulnerable communities. Its pro bono engagement extends to access to justice, constitutional and human rights, child protection, environmental responsibility, legal education, dispute resolution and the advancement of reliable public legal information.
KKA also contributes to the professional training and capacity-building of judges, law officers, investigators, government officials and members of the legal profession. These initiatives address intellectual property enforcement, constitutional principles, commercial law, alternative dispute resolution, technology, online child protection and the effective administration of justice.
Through strategic advice, research, institutional collaboration and professional education, the firm seeks not only to address individual concerns but also to contribute to sustainable legal reform, stronger public institutions and the fair administration of justice.
Support for legal education, public-interest research, constitutional values and the development of accessible legal institutions and information.
KKA’s institutional engagement has included work with the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) in support of child protection, online safety and the development of investigative and judicial capacity concerning the sexual exploitation and abuse of children. This work has included specialist training for judges, law officers and investigators in Pakistan and through international programmes.
Selected work promoting consensual dispute resolution, environmental-law awareness, institutional improvement and rights-based legal development.
Pro bono review of proposed intellectual property legislation and enforcement frameworks, including detailed comments on the Draft Intellectual Property (Enforcement and Coordination) Rules, 2025, to help ensure that effective anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy measures remain constitutionally sound, within statutory authority and respectful of due process and judicial oversight.
Download comments (PDF)News & Legal Updates
This section will carry KKA announcements, legal developments, practice updates and practical commentary for businesses, rights holders, families and instructing counsel.
Following Sher Muhammad Mughari v. Federation of Pakistan, PLD 2026 Federal Constitutional Court 155, the declaration that section 7E is unconstitutional and void from inception raises a practical question for property owners: how can tax already paid be recovered? The judgment provides a strong foundation for restitution, but an individual refund still requires attention to the applicable procedure, evidence and limitation.
Our memorandum examines refund applications under section 170, the position of older payments, protective requests for condonation of delay, and compensation for delayed refunds. It considers the relevant authorities and explains how a claim should identify the payments, establish the amount recoverable and preserve constitutional grounds alongside the statutory remedy.
Read the memorandumThe Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan has upheld the original order dated 25 January 2024 authored by Justice (Retd.) Zulfiqar A. Khan while serving as a Judge of the High Court of Sindh in proceedings concerning the international removal of a child from the United States to Pakistan. The order directed that the child be handed over to the father for return to the United States, where the courts of North Carolina had exercised jurisdiction over custody. It was implemented on 2 February 2024 when the child was handed over through the United States Embassy in Karachi and returned to the United States.
The controversy was subsequently revived when, by an order dated 16 March 2026, the High Court recalled the original return order and initiated contempt proceedings against the father. In Muhammad Faraaz Shaikh & another v. Javeria Shahani & others (F.C.P.L.A. No. 1183 of 2026), the Federal Constitutional Court converted the petition into an appeal, allowed it and set aside the later order. The Court observed that the relevant custody and return directions had attained finality and had already been implemented, while proceedings concerning the underlying custody determination remained before the competent forum in North Carolina. The effect of the reported judgment is that Justice Khan’s original order stands upheld.
The Federal Constitutional Court also formulated guidance for Pakistani courts dealing with cases under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. It emphasised habitual residence, wrongful removal or retention, prompt return to the Contracting State from which a child was removed, respect for the jurisdiction of the competent foreign court and avoidance of conflicting custody determinations. It further affirmed that return proceedings under the Convention are not a determination of the ultimate merits of custody.
Read the Federal Constitutional Court judgment (PDF) →Senior Partner Julie Ismail successfully represented PepsiCo, Inc. before the Competition Commission of Pakistan in proceedings against Mezan Beverages (Private) Limited concerning deceptive marketing and the confusingly similar presentation of its STORM energy drink. By its order dated 31 December 2025, the Commission imposed a PKR 150 million penalty for contravention of section 10(1), read with section 10(2)(d), of the Competition Act, 2010, concerning the fraudulent use of another undertaking’s trade mark, firm name, product labelling or packaging, and directed the respondent to cease using trade dress confusingly similar to PepsiCo’s STING energy drink. The decision is reported as 2026 C.L.D. 757.
Read the Competition Commission order (PDF) →The firm’s expertise now brings intellectual property, technology, artificial intelligence, advertising, dispute resolution and private-client work within one coordinated advisory platform.
View expertise →KKA coordinates cross-border instructions through selected independent counsel across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, with centralised strategy, budgeting and reporting from Karachi.
View jurisdictions →Forthcoming updates will address AI and intellectual property, online brand identity, cross-border enforcement, advertising regulation and international family-law developments.
Request an update →Our professionals
KKA’s professionals work within a practice developed continuously since 1985. Research, precedents, prosecution experience, technical learning, litigation strategy and international relationships are shared across the firm rather than confined to individual files.
Senior professionals remain directly involved from strategy through execution, while coordinated teams provide continuity across prosecution, transactions, enforcement, commercialisation and litigation.
The result is advice informed both by the lawyer responsible for the matter and by the firm’s collective experience across more than 30,000 instructions.
Contact the team →
Provides senior strategic direction in intellectual property, constitutional, technology, commercial and dispute-resolution matters. He has remained closely associated with the development of Pakistan’s modern intellectual property legislation and institutional framework since the country’s implementation of its WTO commitments in the mid-1990s. He was the principal author of the Trade Marks Ordinance, 2001, the Patents Rules, 2003, the Patent Office Handbook and the draft Geographical Indications Law, 2000; served on the committee responsible for the Patents (Amendment) Ordinance, 2002; proposed the 2000 amendments to the Copyright Ordinance, which extended copyright protection to computer software and digital media and helped facilitate the entry and anti-piracy engagement in Pakistan of Microsoft Corporation, the Motion Picture Association and the Business Software Alliance; and contributed to the drafting teams associated with the Pakistan Intellectual Property Rights Organization Act, 2004, and the Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing Law, 2012. He also represented Pakistan before the WTO Council for TRIPS in connection with the review and acceptance of Pakistan’s intellectual property laws. His experience in practice, legislative drafting, international representation, engineering and judicial office forms an important part of KKA’s broader institutional knowledge.
Over a professional career spanning more than three decades, Justice Khan has been associated with numerous national and international organisations in intellectual property, commercial law and dispute resolution, including the Asian Patent Attorneys Association; Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia; International Chamber of Commerce; Fédération Internationale des Conseils en Propriété Industrielle (FICPI); American Bar Association; International Trademark Association; International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), where he served as a Past Delegate for Independent Members from Europe and Asia; European Communities Trademark Association; American Intellectual Property Law Association; South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law; Institute of Trade Mark Agents; DRI – Defense Attorneys Association; Chartered Institute of Patent Agents; International Bar Association; Licensing Executives Society; Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau / Counter Force; National Association of Patent Professionals; Pharmaceutical Trade Mark Group; Center for International Legal Studies; German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR); Biotechnology Industry Association; Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA); Japan Intellectual Property Association; ICANN At-Large for the Asia Pacific Region; Pakistan Industrial and Intellectual Property Rights Association; Pakistan Engineering Council; Urban and Regional Information Systems Association; and Pakistan Japan Business Council.
Advises international and domestic clients on intellectual property prosecution, enforcement, strategic portfolio management and cross-border coordination. She is a principal point of contact for overseas counsel and corporate legal departments requiring responsive Pakistan support.
View profile
Mr. Ghulam Abbas advises on estate planning, property law, inheritance and business continuity matters. He combines corporate experience, technological understanding and a disciplined approach with practical insight into the preservation, management and orderly transfer of personal, family and business assets. His work assists individuals, families and business owners in structuring succession arrangements, safeguarding property interests and ensuring continuity across generations.
View profile
With nearly three decades at Khursheed Khan & Associates, Nuzhat has developed extensive expertise in intellectual property law, particularly trade mark prosecution, opposition and enforcement. She drafts and files oppositions, pleadings and legal notices, manages contentious trade mark matters, and represents clients at hearings before the Registrar of Trade Marks. She holds an LL.B. and a Master’s degree in Petroleum Geology from the University of Karachi.
View profile
Rosina Ismail joined Khursheed Khan & Associates in 2017 and manages intellectual property portfolios for local and international clients. Her practice encompasses trade mark prosecution from filing through registration and opposition proceedings, together with patent and design prosecution and copyright matters. She specialises in strategic portfolio oversight, with a particular focus on building, protecting and maintaining international intellectual property portfolios. Rosina holds an LL.B. and a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and intends to qualify as a patent agent before USPTO.
View profile
Handles contentious and non-contentious intellectual property matters, including infringement, passing off, opposition and commercial disputes. He represents clients before courts, specialist tribunals and administrative authorities. Muhammad has a particular interest in automotive law and is developing a specialised practice in this emerging field, with a focus on motor vehicle regulation, mobility, transport compliance and road safety.
View profile
Simrah supports the Firm’s trade mark, copyright, patent and commercial advisory practices for local and international clients, including portfolio review, prosecution support, legal research and coordinated client reporting. In addition to her legal qualifications, she holds a degree in psychology, which she applies to matters concerning the criminal enforcement of intellectual property rights, including counterfeiting, piracy, infringement investigations and related criminal proceedings.
View profile
Sarah Zajdela is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, where she pursued interdisciplinary studies in physics. Her scientific training provides a strong foundation for understanding complex inventions across emerging and established technologies. Sarah is presently undertaking professional training towards qualification as a U.S. patent agent, with a focus on translating scientific innovation into clear and commercially valuable patent protection.
View profileOur expertise
KKA’s services have developed around the recurring needs identified through more than 30,000 matters. Prosecution, litigation, technical, investigative, policy, commercial and private-client experience is brought together so that instructions can be handled coherently—from protection and licensing to digital strategy, dispute resolution, family and succession matters, cross-border proceedings and appellate litigation.
Clearance, registrability, national and Madrid Protocol prosecution, oppositions, invalidation, recordals and watching—organised around brand architecture, market expansion, investment value and long-term portfolio strength.
Patent drafting support, Paris Convention and PCT national-phase filings, prosecution, amendments and industrial-design protection, with legal scope aligned to the product, technology, market and competitive landscape.
Protection and commercialisation of software, digital content, databases, media and creative works, together with licensing, privacy, data protection, cyber law, intermediary liability and platform-related issues.
Strategic representation in infringement, passing off, invalidation, injunction, appellate and judicial-review proceedings, supported by early merits analysis, evidence planning and attention to the client’s commercial endgame.
Brand-name creation, selection and clearance for new products and services, access to Create TM’s naming portfolio, and protection against counterfeiting, imitation and unauthorised use.
Licensing, distribution, franchising, technology transfer, research collaboration and commercial agreements, complemented by advice on unfair competition, deceptive marketing, regulatory risk and market conduct.
Portfolio management for major FMCG businesses and Fortune 500 companies, combining maintenance, protection reviews and coordinated responses to IP threats across international markets.
Portfolio reviews, protection-gap analysis, freedom-to-operate coordination, transactional due diligence, internal policies and practical workshops that help management and in-house teams make informed IP decisions.
Domain-name strategy, registration and recovery; cybersquatting, impersonation and confusingly similar domains; UDRP and local dispute procedures; registry and registrar engagement; website takedowns and coordinated protection of online brand identity.
Advice on ownership, inventorship, authorship, training data, confidentiality, licensing, contracting, procurement, governance and liability arising from AI systems, together with protection strategies for AI-enabled products, processes and content.
Representation and strategic support in domestic and international arbitration, mediation, expert determination and negotiated settlement of licensing, technology-transfer, research, ownership, royalty, franchising and other intellectual property disputes.
Coordination of multi-jurisdictional disputes, parallel proceedings, jurisdiction and conflict-of-laws questions, evidence and service strategy, and applications involving anti-suit or anti-enforcement relief, working with appropriately qualified foreign counsel where required.
KKA helped reshape Pakistan’s copyright laws and enforcement environment in work that facilitated the entry and anti-piracy engagement of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) in the Pakistan market.
Government and institutional advisory on national IP reform, legal harmonisation, specialist tribunals and customs border enforcement, drawing on the firm’s experience assisting Pakistan to address international IP-policy concerns and Special 301 scrutiny.
Legal and regulatory advice on advertising campaigns, promotions, sponsorships, endorsements, comparative advertising, influencer marketing and digital communications, including misleading claims, substantiation, intellectual property clearance, consumer protection, competition and sector-specific advertising requirements.
Advice and representation concerning marriage, dissolution, maintenance, dower, matrimonial property, domestic arrangements, negotiated settlements and related proceedings, handled with discretion and sensitivity to family circumstances.
Succession planning and disputes, inheritance entitlements, probate and letters of administration, succession certificates, estate administration, family settlements and questions involving domestic or overseas assets and beneficiaries.
Custody, guardianship, visitation and contact, relocation, maintenance and welfare proceedings, including urgent applications and disputes involving parents or children situated in different cities or jurisdictions.
Conflict-of-laws, domicile, nationality and personal-status questions; recognition and effect of foreign marriages, divorces, custody arrangements and judgments; jurisdictional disputes and coordination with overseas family counsel.
Advice and representation in proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, including wrongful removal or retention, habitual residence, return applications, access arrangements, Convention exceptions and protective measures.
Industries & Client Needs
The firm combines sector-specific commercial knowledge with a substantial private-client practice. Its work extends from consumer goods, life sciences, technology and engineering to family relationships, inheritance, child welfare and cross-border personal matters—each requiring different evidence, judgment, strategy and sensitivity.
Jurisdictional reach
Four decades of work with overseas rights holders, international law firms and professional organisations have shaped the firm’s cross-border systems. The Karachi head office provides a single point for strategy, budgeting, deadline control and reporting, supported by established relationships in Afghanistan, Japan and a wider correspondent network.
KKA can coordinate instructions beyond its core Pakistan practice through selected independent counsel across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, providing clients with centralised instructions, budgets, deadline control and consolidated reporting.
Services outside Pakistan are provided or coordinated with appropriately qualified independent local counsel. The available route, scope and timing are confirmed for each jurisdiction and matter.
Start a conversation
For new instructions, filing estimates, portfolio reviews or an initial discussion about protection and enforcement in Pakistan or coordinated support in other jurisdictions, contact the Karachi office. Enquiries are handled discreetly and directed to professionals with access to the firm’s accumulated knowledge, precedents and strategic resources; sending an enquiry does not itself create an attorney–client relationship.
