New enforcement coordination rules in Indonesia

A new Ministry of Law decree on handling IP cases has been issued. The decree mandates how the IP Office's enforcement team (called PPNS) is to manage and process complaint submissions. For some years there has been a great deal of uncertainty around PPNS cases, in particular when the police need to be involved. The net result has been inconsistent practice, uncertain raid outcomes and few if any prosecutions.

 

The decree outlines internal procedures. Most of the investigative processes appear similar to current practice, but in more detail.  The decree does not mention any recommended or mandatory timelines. So the PPNS may still be prone to lengthy delays. The decree does allows for online submission of complaints via an e-system. KORWAS is the police unit assigned to manage PPNS cases and it plays a hands-on role in internal procedures.The decree allows PPNS to conduct raids and make seizures without KORWAS (police) accompaniment. But in practice, PPNS may still want police for security and support.

 

The decree also introduces a new mediation process that is mandatory for all copyright cases except piracy cases, in line with Article 95 of the new Copyright Law which requires mediation. It is not yet clear if this will apply to trademarks as the new draft Trademark Law has not been enacted yet.

 
It takes time for these kinds of rules to bed down and start working, and certain critical missing functions still prevent PPNS conducting raids (e.g. no where to store seized goods). But it is a small start hopefully to more enforcement actions in Indonesia after years of ineffective enforcement (as detailed in the US Special 301 report in May - see here).