The coffee wars reported here over the KOPITIAM name, the generic name for popular Chinese coffee houses in Indonesia and neighboring countries continue. Local businessman and Abdul Alex Soelistiyo has registered, claims exclusivity in and has brought enforcement against other users of his registered KOPITIAM mark in Indonesia. He can do this due to the weak examination systems at the TM office allowing a well known generic name to be registered.
Now Alex has put an advert in the newspapers warning members of the Indonesian Kopitiam Association that they must remove their signs and stop using 'his trademark'.
Meanwhile members of the association are well into a cancellation case in the Central Jakarta District Court filed on June 1, 2012. There is precedent for this as other generic marks have been cancelled in the past - JELLY BEAN was one. The case is now at evidence stage, with witnesses for the association claiming Kopitiam is used in many countries, including Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Macao. In Indonesia itself, in many supermarkets in Indonesia there are Kopitiam shops, in famous Jakarta shopping malls like Grand Indonesia, Plaza Indonesia and Mal Taman Angrek.
Expect a decision in a few weeks; then the inevitable Supreme Court appeal.
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