Indonesia is member of Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Stockholm Revision 1967) since May 10, 1979 and since the date, there were some changes in Indonesia trademark regulation.

The first Trademark Law in Indonesia was regulated in the Law No. 21 of 1961 which was then changed by the Law No. 19 of 1992 and then changed again into the Law No. 15  of 2001 and the latest was changed by the Law No. 20 of 2016.

The new Trademark Law No. 20 of 2016 was enacted on November 25, 2016. For all applications filed from November 25, 2016 and thereafter, the Trademark Law No. 20 of 2016 shall be applied. 

As for trademark application which was filed before November 25, 2016 and not yet been registered, the previous Trademark Law No. 15 of 2001 shall be applied for the application. Once the trademark is registered, the new Trademark Law No. 20 of 2016 shall be applied.

Trademark Law No. 15 of 2001 (for application filed before November 25, 2016 and not yet been registered)

- Procedure: filing, substantive examination, publication (3 months), and certification. In practice it may take about 2 – 2,5 years from filing up to registration for smooth application. If there is office action or refusal, it may take longer.

- Assignment can only be made once the trademark has been registered.

- Recordal of change of name or address can only be made once the trademark has been registered.

Trademark Law No. 20 of 2016 (for application filed after November 25, 2016 or registered trademark)

- Procedure: filing, publication (2 months), substantive examination, and certification. According to the new Trademark Law No. 20 of 2016, it will take approximately 11 months from filing up to registration for smooth filing. This however may take much longer time in practice.

- Assignment can be made for registered trademark or a trademark application.

- Recordal of change of name or address can be made for registered trademark or a trademark application.

Type of Trademark

- Traditional trademark (two dimension);

- Non-traditional trademark, namely three-dimension, sound, hologram, or its combination.

Application with Priority Right

An Application using Priority Right must be filed within a period of not later than 6 (six) months as from the Filing Date of original application received by another country of which a Member State of Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property or a member of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization.

Trademark Certificate

Once the trademark has been registered, the Trademark Office will issue trademark registration certificate. If within 18 months the trademark owner or its proxy does not take the certificate from the Trademark Office, the registered mark shall be considered withdrawn and deleted.

Obligation to use registered mark

- According to the Trademark Law, a registered mark shall be used in trade of goods/services. A registered mark which is not been used for 3 consecutive years maybe subject to cancellation due to non-use filed by other interested party.

- For renewal, the trademark owner shall also submit Statement of Use which mention that the registered mark is still in use.

Renewal

Trademark protection is valid for 10 years from the filing date and maybe renewed for another 10 years. Renewal may be made 6 months before the expiry date and 6 months after the expiry date (with some additional payment).

Infringement

Unauthorized use of a registered mark in trade of goods/services shall be considered as trademark infringement and the infringer and/or market place which sells the goods/services resulted from infringement are offenses penalized under the Indonesian law.