Intellectual Property Rights in Indonesia:

a General Overview

HARTAKA
March 2019 Strictly confidential
• What is Intellectual Property Rights (“IPR”)?
• Based on World Intellectual Property Organization, IPR
refers to creation of the mind: inventions; literary and
artistic works; and symbols, names and images used in
commerce.

• Indonesian laws provide protection for (i) Trademarks,

(ii) Patents, (iii) Industrial Designs, (iv) Copyrights, (v)
Geographical Indications and (vi) Trade Secrets

IPR in Indonesia: General

Overview
• Trademark: a trademark is a distinguishable and unique
sign that is used in the trade of goods and/or services in
order to indicate the source and origin of the goods and/or
services.

• In order to be acceptable in Indonesia, your trademark

must be in the form of a picture, a name, a word, letter(s),
number(s), figure(s), a combination of these elements.

• The exclusive right to use the trademark in Indonesia

only arise when the trademark is registered with the
Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP).

IPR in Indonesia: Trademark

• Indonesian law provides protection for inventions. A patent is
an exclusive right granted for an invention – a product or
process that provides a new way of doing something or that
offers a new technical solution to a problem.

• Indonesian patent law defines an invention as “an inventor’s

idea that is poured into an activity of solving a specific
problem in the field of technology, either in the form of a
product or process, or an improvement and development of a
product or a process.

• To have exclusive rights over the invention, the invention must

be registered with the DGIP.

IPR in Indonesia: Patent

• Under Indonesian industrial design law, an industrial design is
defined as a creation on the shape, configuration, or the composition
of lines or colors, or lines and colors, or the combination hereof in a
three or two dimensional form which gives aesthetic impression and
can be realized in a three or two dimensional pattern and used to
produce a product, goods or an industrial commodity and a
handicraft.

• To be eligible for industrial design protection, your industrial design

must be novel, have aesthetic value and be capable of industrial
application.

• In order to have exclusive rights over your industrial design, you

need to file an application for registration with the DGIP.

IPR in Indonesia: Industrial

Design
• Copyright is an exclusive right of an author or a
copyright holder to publish or reproduce their work. This
right is granted automatically when the work that is being
created show originality in the field of science, arts and
literature.

• Copyright protection is automatic, since Indonesia is a

member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of
Literary and Artistic Works.
• The copyright owner can record his/her copyright with the
DGIP.

IPR in Indonesia: Copyright

• A geographical indication is a sign used on goods that
have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities
or a reputation due to that place of origin.
• A geographical indication guarantees consumers that a
product was produced in a certain place and has certain
charasteristics that are due to that place of production.
• Kintamani Bali Arabica Coffee is a good example of a GI
registered in Indonesia.

IPR in Indonesia: Geographical

Indication
• Trade secret is defined as any information in the field of technology and/or
business which is maintained confidential by its owner and has economic
value when used in business activities. The information can include methods
of productions, methods of processing, sales methodology, customer
databases, product recipes or any other information with potential economic
value.

• Under Indonesian law, an information will enjoy the protection of a trade

secret provided that such information fulfill three specific criteria: (i) the
information is confidential, (ii) the information has real or potential
economic value and (iii) necessary measures have been taken to protect its
secrecy.

• As long as information is adequately protected, there is no time limit to trade

secret protection, however the legal protection lapses as soon as the
information becomes widely known or public knowledge.

IPR in Indonesia: Trade Secrets

 No. Advantages
1. Intellectual assets can generate
profits for the business.
2. The holder of the IPRs has the
right to file a lawsuit with the
Commercial Court against any
third party who is unlawfully
using the IPRs.
Advantages in having the IPRs being Registered in
Indonesia
Remarks
The full protection of the IPRs are
essential to ensure that the value of the
Intellectual Property can be
maximized.
Under the Indonesian laws and
regulations, the sanction can be in the
form of fine or imprisonment.
In addition to criminal actions, there is
also an option of pursuing a civil
action against an infringer to request a
compensation for actual damages and
legal fees.
 No. Advantages
2. The holder of the IPRs can
license their IPRs to another
person pursuant to a license
agreement in writing.
Remarks
Under the Indonesian law, for the
license agreement to have a legal
effect towards any third party, the
license agreement must be recorded
and published at the DGIP, with the
payment of a fee.

Advantages in having the IPRs being Registered in

Indonesia
 • In 2018, the Indonesian government has issued Government
Regulation No. 36 of 2018 regarding the Recordation of Intellectual
Property License Agreement (“GR No. 36/2018”).

• Under GR No. 36/2018, a holder of IPR cannot grant a license to a

licensee if (i) the protection period of the licensed IP is expired or (ii)
the registration/recordation of licensed IPR is deleted, cancelled
and/or revoked, whether due to voluntary application, the appeal
commission’s decisions or a court decision.

• The license agreement should be in the form of a written agreement

and if it is in a foreign language, must be translated into the
Indonesian language.

IPR in Indonesia: Intellectual Property License

Agreement
 • All IP license agreement must be recorded with the DGIP. Failure to
do so, the relevant agreement will not have any legal effect towards a
third party.

• In the event that the licensor or licensee is domiciled outside the

territory of the Republic of Indonesia or is a foreigner, then the
application for recordation of the IP license agreement should be filed
through a local registered IP Consultant.

IPR in Indonesia: Intellectual Property License

Agreement