Trademark registration in Indonesia
Trademark Law defines “trademark” as words, numbers, letters, colours, figures, composition, symbols or a combination of them and trademark registration is used to distinguish goods or services produced by a person or legal entity.
In Indonesia, Trademark Act was written under Law No. 15 of 2001. It was subsequently amended and the new Trademark and Geographical Indication Law was passed under Law No. 20 of 2016. The law protects registered trademarks as company assets from infringement claims by other parties.
Apart from registering brands and trademarks, MAM Corporate Solutions assists businesses with various other licensing and compliance. If you wish to import other products into Indonesia or establish company in Indonesia, you can read the following useful articles.
Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) evaluates and decides whether to approve or reject trademark applications. The whole process may take about 12 to 24 months. Applicants would have to pay for Pre-filing Search, Request for Registration and Final Registration/Certificate. Unfortunately, should DGIP reject the application, all the fees and charges paid will not be refunded.
Trademark registration steps in Indonesia
As most of the application procedures requires a local knowledge, a local consultant will be essential. Furthermore, a signed Power of Attorney and Declaration of Entitlement are needed to submit the application.
Applicants need to ensure that the trademark they are trying to register, or anything similar to it, has not been registered before. They also need to abide to the Trademark Law as well as religious and moral values.
Applicants should thoroughly complete the whole process to ensure efficiency. There are three parts of registration process:
- Formal Examination
- Written application in Indonesian language
- Complete name, address and nationality of the applicant
- Description and explanation of the design and colours of the trademark
- Payment of fees to DGIP
- Minimum requirements to obtain an application number
- Publication
- After meeting the requirements in the formal examination, the application goes through a publication period, a two-month period where any person or legal entity can write an objection to DGIP
- Substantive review
- If there is no opposition within the publication period, the application will enter an examination stage for 150 working days.
- If there is an opposition, applicants will be given two months to file counter-statements.
- Application is not registrable if it contains misleading elements regarding the type, quality, and intended use of the goods/service, or is already registered.
- Application is also not registrable if the description of the goods/service is not in-line with the quality or efficacy of the goods/service.
- Certification
- DGIP will issue a certificate of registration and publish the trademark in the official Trademark Gazette, for trademarks that pass the examination.
Infringement of Trademark
The New Trademark Law imposes a fine of IDR 2,000,000,000 on an infringement of trademark. Additionally, if the infringement causes damage to human health, damage to the environment, or death, the fine may go up to IDR 5,000,000,000.
How MAM Corporate Solutions can help?
It is important for businesses to have a trademark and have it registered in Indonesia, especially with the high rate of piracy. MAM Corporate Solutions can help you increase the chance of getting an approval from the DGIP. As application for trademarks works in a first-come-first-serve basis, it is important to register yours as early as possible.
Contact MAM Corporate Solutions
If you are in need of assistance in trademark registration, you can contact our expert anytime by Clicking here or provide below as much detail about your inquiry as possible to receive the most relevant response.