Indonesia's Madrid regulation

Government Regulation No. 22 of 2018 on Registration of International Trade Mark Madrid Protocol (“Regulation”) was enacted and took effect on 6 June 2018.

In summary the Regulation contains the following:

-           Applications can be filed via electronic or non-electronic forms and can be in English.

-           An Applicant should be an Indonesia citizen, domiciled or have a legal domicile in Indonesia, or have clear industrial/commercial business activity in Indonesia.
-           the IP Office conducts a formality examination within 5 days of receipt of an International Application.
-           the IP Office notifies the International Bureau within 2 months from the date of receipt of an International Application.
-           the IP Office shall notify the International Bureau of the result of the substantive examination within 18 months from the date on which it was notified of an International Application.
-           An Objection against provisional refusal can be submitted within 30 days from the date of the refusal notification from the International Bureau  
-           IR Holders can file a transformation request within 3 months where the IR is cancelled due to the termination of the Basic Registration or Basic Application in the country of origin per the provisions of the Madrid Protocol
-           IR Holders can replace existing trade mark registrations in Indonesia with an International trade mark designating Indonesia in certain circumstances. Both registrations do co-exist but the IR Holder gains protection from the initial rights based on the national registration in Indonesia.

According to WIPO’s Madrid Monitor database, there are 15 international trade mark applications originating from Indonesia already. Some 2,227 applications have already designated Indonesia. US, EU and Japan lead the designations. This is despite the system not being fully set up yet!