Indonesia

Andrew Diamond and Fabiola Rossy of Januar Jahja and Partners take a closer look at the recent trademark battle between two large oral care brands

In the midst of a pandemic that has disrupted economic activity so much so that Indonesia recently entered its first recession in over two decades, a proposed law on job creation brought thousands of protesters out to Jakarta's now almost deserted streets. The law weakens worker and environmental protections in the name of increasing business ease and underwent a somewhat unconventional and confusing path to implementation (there were four separate final drafts circulating at one point with differences of hundreds of pages). As a result, the law has been controversial from beginning to end. In its final form, it is over 1,100 pages long and amends approximately 75 separate laws, packaged together as the Job Creation Law No. 11 of Year 2020 or just the Omnibus Bill.

In a decision published on June 26 2020, the Indonesian Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling against a celebrity who sought to acquire prior rights to a disputed mark and then cancel a competitor’s trademark. The decision demonstrates some limit on the jurisdiction’s first-to-file position, which has historically been strictly applied and enforced both by courts and by the Indonesian IP Office. The Supreme Court also upheld the cancellation of some of the celebrity’s trademarks due to his previous work for the defendant as a brand ambassador, serving as a cautionary tale to potential bad faith plaintiffs.

The Indonesian government has established a compulsory licence framework in anticipation of a COVID-19 vaccine. The framework also applies to national defence and security patents.

Despite the widespread social, health, and economic devastation caused by COVID-19, it has largely been business as usual at the Indonesian IP Office (DGIP) since the start of the pandemic. While there certainly have been some minor disruptions and corresponding adjustments, overall the impact so far appears to have been minimal.