DIGITAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ENFORCEMENTIN PAKISTAN’S E-COMMERCE LANDSCAPE:THE CASE FOR PLATFORM LIABILITY AND NOTICE-AND-TAKEDOWN REFORM

Abstract

Pakistan’s digital economy has expanded rapidly over the last five years, yet its intellectual property enforcement framework remains anchored in pre-digital assumptions. This paper examines the structural inadequacy of existing trademark and copyright law in addressing online infringement on Pakistani e-commerce platforms, with particular focus on marketplace giants such as Daraz and OLX. Drawing on a comparative analysis of India's Information Technology Act, the European Union’s Digital Services Act, and the United States’ Digital Millennium Copyright Act, this paper argues that Pakistan must adopt a formalised notice-and-takedown regime for online platforms and reinterpret Section 156 of the Trademarks Ordinance 2001 to require platform-level enforcement. The paper further contends that stronger penalties alone are insufficient; what is needed are enforcement mechanisms calibrated to the operational realities of digital commerce, including a streamlined dispute resolution modelled on the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP). The paper also engages with Pakistan’s Copyright Amendment Bill 2024 and recent IP tribunal jurisprudence to demonstrate that reform is not merely desirable but legally tractable.

Keywords: Intellectual property, e-commerce, platform liability, notice-and-takedown, Trademarks Ordinance 2001, Pakistan, Digital Services Act, DMCA, counterfeit goods, digital enforcement.