Trademark registration is an integral step for businessmen. Without Trademark Rights, a businessman cannot receive Exclusive Rights to use their Trademark. The use of Trademarks exclusively can only be done when the Directorate General of Intellectual Property as a State Institution grants Trademark registration to an applicant.

The importance of Exclusive Trademark Rights (from here on to be called “Trademark Rights”) is to avoid unfair competition and fraudulent behavior done by other businessmen, particularly those attempting to take advantage of others’ Trademarks without permission. It is to be noted that the protection of a Trademark, as contained in the Law Number 20 Year 2016 concerning Trademark and Geographical Indications, is only provided for registered Trademarks. This mean that without doing Trademark registration, then the owner of said Trademark doesn’t actually own the rights to the Trademark, or it can also be said that their right to the Trademark is not recognized by the Government (Article 3 Law No. 20/2016).

Many businessmen to date still see Trademark registration as a trivial matter. Many of them tend start thinking about doing Trademark registration only after the public is familiar with their products and/or services. Regarding this, it must be underlined that not registering a Trademark is essentially the same as giving up the rights to said Trademark. Therefore, it is only right to regard Trademark registration as a top priority in starting a business.

The Online System can be a hindrance in and of itself, especially to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), and to newbie applicants in Trademark registration. Unlike big corporations that usually have their own legal divisions or use Intellectual Property Consultants to register their Trademarks, most MSME’s do their own Trademark registration through the Directorate General of Intellectual Property system. This is where many problems arise, where there are foreign terms employed, as well as the flow of the registration system that can be difficult to understand for some.

Registration through the Online System requires special skills. During the transition period of the changing registration system, numerous Intellectual Property Consultants faced challenges in adapting to the system. However, Consultants had the luxury of receiving special training from the Directorate General of Intellectual Property in order to ensure smooth proceeding of their profession.

Before Trademark registration applicants can inquire further regarding the requirements of Trademark registration, applicants will have to pay for the Trademark registration through SIMPAKI (Sistem Administrasi Kekayaan Intelektual/Intellectual Property Administration System). At this stage, applicants must understand the Trademark classification system as the amount of payment to be made depends on the classification chosen by the applicant. Such classification refers to the NICE Classification published by the World Intellectual Property Organizationn or WIPO for short (further explanation on the Trademark classification system to be done in a future article). After ordering the booking code through SIMPAKI, only then applicants can start to fulfil the administrative requirements through the Trademark registration system run by the Directorate General of Intellectual Property.

Some things to be prepared in order to smoothen the Trademark registration process through the Online System in Indonesia are:

1. Identification of the Trademark owner (Identity Card (KTP) for Indonesian citizens, Passport for foreigners, Deed of Incorporation for legal entities);
2. Special Power of Attorney if done through an Intellectual Property Consultant;
3. Classification of the Trademark to be registered;
4. Trademark e-ticket (logo, writing or name of the Trademark to be registered); and
5. Scanned digital signature of the Trademark owner.

By mastering the procedures of Trademark registration and its requirements, mistakes and problems in the Trademark registration process can be minimized. In most cases, applicants are still unknowledgeable in determining the classification of their products and/or services, however applicants should be able to go through the process of the Trademark registration so long as they closely follow the instructions give on the website.

Dr. Andrew Betlehn, SH., S.Kom. MM., Advocate and Intellectual Property Consultant who has been practicing Intellectual Property Law for 8 (eight) years. Founder of Betlehn Law Office, that is here to provide solutions for businessmen and Trademark owners alike in protecting their Intellectual Property assets. Intellectual Property owners can utilize their time more effectively and efficiently to develop other aspects of their business, with advice and help in managing their Intellectual Property assets as given by Dr. Betlehn and his partners at Betlehn Law Office.