The Indonesian government has announced two major developments relating to patents and trademarks in the country: (1) increases to the official fees for a range of IP prosecution tasks; and (2) the enactment of an amended Trademark Law.

New Official Fees

Government Regulation No. 45 of 2016 on Non-Taxable State Revenue introduces a number of increases to the official fees for many IP prosecution-related actions in Indonesia, although not all of the fees have changed. Government Regulation No. 45 will become effective on November 10, 2016. The key changes to the official fees are as follows:

Significantly, the official filing fee for trademark applications is now calculated based on the number of classes, regardless of whether the application is filed on a single-class or multiple-class basis.

New Trademark Law

The Indonesian Parliament approved Indonesia’s new Trademark Law on October 27 this year, and it will come into effect on or before November 26, 2016. The new Trademark Law introduces a number of significant changes to the registration, protection, and enforcement of trademarks in Indonesia. This includes the following key changes:

• In an opposition, the two-month publication stage will take place before the substantive examination stage, unlike before, where it took place after substantive examination. All trademarks that pass an initial formality examination will proceed directly to the publication stage. There will be no further publication after the substantive examination.
• A pending trademark application will be assignable, whereas previously only registered trademarks could be assigned.
• A renewal application can be filed either 6 months before the renewal due date or 6 months after the due date (with a penalty fee). Past practice only allowed the renewal to be filed within 12 months before the due date.
• Nontraditional trademarks, including three-dimensional trademarks, sound marks, and holograms, will be introduced.
• The criminal penalty for trademark infringement will be increased.

We will provide a more detailed analysis of the new Trademark Law in our upcoming issue of Informed Counsel, Tilleke & Gibbins’ quarterly law journal.

If you have any questions about Indonesia’s new official fees or the amended Trademark Law, please contact us at [email protected] or +6221 2971 8088.