Indonesia has ratified various international agreements on intellectual property rights such as the Madrid Protocol, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, the Berne Convention, the Paris Convention, and the WIPO Copyright Treaty.
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Indonesia is also a signatory to the ASEAN Patent Examination Cooperation, which can allow applicants to obtain patents in and across other participating ASEAN countries, faster and more efficiently.
As this section explains in detail, the Indonesia trademark regime adopts the first-to-file principal, trademark applications made face substantive examination and must meet other criteria to be successful. Trademark registrations can require between 3 and 6 months, be valid up to 10 years, and can later be renewed within 6 months of the expiry date.
Under Indonesia’s Trademark Law, a trademark is defined as any sign in the form of letters, numbers, compositions, symbols, figures, colors, or a combination of the aforementioned that is used to distinguish the goods and services provided by a company or person. Sounds, holograms, and 3-dimensional forms can also be protected under the law.t
As mentioned, Indonesia adopts the first-to-file principal, meaning that the entity or individual whose trademark application has the earliest filing date will hold the rights exclusively.
Furthermore, a trademark application can be rejected if it is filed in bad faith (it appears to be substantially similar to an already registered trademark) as well as contravening, the State Ideology, religion, current laws and regulations, and public order. The trademark application should also not be misleading in terms of its quality, type, size, or intended use.
Under Indonesia’s Trademark Law, a trademark is defined as any sign in the form of letters, numbers, compositions, symbols, figures, colors, or a combination of the aforementioned that is used to distinguish the goods and services provided by a company or person. Sounds, holograms, and 3-dimensional forms can also be protected under the law.
Once an application is put through to the Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights (DGIP), the DGIP will undertake a formality check before publishing the application for a period of two months. During this time, any interested party can challenge the application.
After the publication period ends, the DGIP will undertake a substantive examination by appointing an examiner from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. This process takes approximately 30 days if there is no opposition, or 90 days if an opposition is filed.
It should be noted that a trademark application can be rejected if it is filed in bad faith (it appears to be substantially similar to an already registered trademark) as well as contravening, the State Ideology, religion, current laws and regulations, and public order. The trademark application should also not be misleading in terms of its quality, type, size, or intended use.
If the application passes the examination, the DGIP will issue a certificate and publish the trademark on the official Trademark Gazette. The trademark will expire 10 years from the original filing date. This can be renewed within 6 months of the expiry date.
A proprietor of a registered trademark can file a lawsuit to the Commercial Court if a third party is found to be misusing the trademark.
Under Indonesia’s Criminal Code, if the third party is found guilty of using an identical trademark to a registered one, they can receive prison terms of up to four years or a maximum fine of up to 500 million rupiah (US$612,800).
