Indonesia speeds up its efforts to build a better IP ecosystem
As part of an overall effort to strengthen the IP ecosystem in Indonesia, this country is now striving to cooperate with other organizations and countries in the world to create an efficient and effective intellectual property (IP) ecosystem to combat widespread piracy and counterfeit goods to attract investments from the United States and Europe.
Recently, as a demonstration of this effort, Indonesia’s Directorate General of Intellectual Property has cooperated with the FBI to tackle IP infringements.
At the moment, The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) is working with the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) to investigate the sale of piracy and counterfeit at physical marketplaces and online marketplaces, as they have data on the United States’ industries.
These efforts stem from the fact that Indonesia has been placed on the PWL (United States Trade Representative’s Priority Watch List) in 2021.
Accordingly, to tackle these IP infringements, Indonesia and other countries, as well as renowned organizations in the world have collaborated together in unity to put a stop to the IP piracy problem once and for all.
As a matter of fact, this is not the first time Indonesia has risen up to IP piracy. The country’s efforts to battle IP problems date back to 2006 when the Indonesian Government established the National IP Task Force to combat IP violations.
The task force was established by Presidential Decree No. 4 in the Year 2006. From that point forward, the Indonesian government has constantly tried to improve its IP tackle methods. Although at this moment, those efforts may seem like it is not effective cause Indonesia is still on the PWL and this is just another attempt to fix what seems like an unfixable problem.
However, the fact that Indonesia is on US Trade Representative (USTR) Priority Watch List doesn’t mean that this country hasn’t made a mark on the battle against IP violations.
On the other hand, Indonesia in 2021 has gained way more trust from foreign investors than Indonesia in 2006 to a dramatic amount.
If the government can keep up with these efforts, they will be able to create a market that is comparable to those of the top like the United States, France, etc. that can build good and healthy business habits, consequently, Indonesia will gain more trust and appreciation from both the local and international business community.
Although there are still many conflicts, experts in various fields have concluded that Indonesia has really stepped up in its IP protection program and this country has established a solid IP foundation that will enable their young generation to end the IP battle in the future.
The young generation in Indonesia
Due to the country’s constant efforts in the fight against IP problems, the young generation in Indonesia will now have the knowledge and the necessary tools to take up their elder’s role in ensuring that IP piracy will forever be gone in Indonesia.
For instance, Gen Z, or generation Z in Indonesia has had a much better understanding of the importance to respect the originality of a product. Nowadays, even tempting with cheap IP infringement products, most of the young generation will refuse to buy those fake products. Not because the fake product’s quality is questionable but Indonesian now have some kind of pride characteristic that they take into grant when wearing original brand products.
Accordingly, they are willing to spend more money to wear real, authentic products instead of cheap, fake products with unclear origins.
If the Indonesian government can continue to achieve milestones in its battle against IP infringements, it will have a whole new young generation of IP experts in the near future. With the knowledge and most importantly, the gratitude attitude to authentic products, the battle against IP piracy in Indonesia will surely come to an end in their hands.
Expert opinions
Discussing the change of Indonesia in the recent 20 years on the term of efforts to battle IP piracy, Fortuna Alvariza, Founding Partner (Advocate & IP Counsel) of FAIP Advocate & IP Counsels in Indonesia said: “Indonesian business population has a better understanding of IP, and the Government also do the necessary to create a more promising IP protection environment in the country. The variables that must be improved are a mix, between the basic IP protection such as registration and other related prosecution systems, litigation system, and enforcement system. The efforts to build the IP protection has actually started a long time ago, however, it is true that many people can only feel little by little a positive impact from the improvement of better IP protection within around 10 years ago, especially with the enactment of new Trademark Law, Patent Law, Copyrights Law and other related regulations in around 2014 – 2019 which replaced the previous ones.”
She also comments about one of Indonesia’s efforts in the battle against IP piracy: “In 2015 the Indonesian president Joko Widodo established Creative Economy Agency to boost national creative industries. One of the functions of the Agency is to develop public awareness and appreciation for intellectual property rights and optimize financial benefit for intellectual property rights holders, harmonization of regulations, strong cooperation as well as to create synergy across institutions and regions, optimize infrastructures, based on trustworthy governmental management that is transparent, effective, and democratic. The agency has been merged with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in 2019 and still actively continuing their works until now.”
Furthermore, Fortuna Alvariza also gave praise about the overall change in the country’s attitude against fake, infringing products: “Local markets are now more aware of the importance to use the original products. If 20 years ago many local business owners preferred to create something that was not original and imitating foreign well-known products, we can now feel that they have a different mindset. The local business population has now more courage to create products that shows local identity and/or creativity, as well as having their own IPR. Although sometimes they are still inspired by other well-known foreign brands, usually they make necessary efforts to differentiate their products from the well-known mark.”
Finally, Alvariza stated about Indonesia’s ultimate goal behind all of these attempts to create a better IP protection system in Indonesia: “Further, Indonesia may boost the innovation and creative industries which is one of the goals of the Government, since the creative industries are targeted to become one of the strongest sectors that contribute the income to the country in 2030. In view of the improvement of the business environment especially related with IP matters in the last 5 years, we believe that Indonesia is on the right track for the better future of IP protection.”
*** Other Articles***
– You could visit here to see 05 Legal Notes About Trademark In Indonesia – Indonesia Trademark Law
– You could visit here to check the Trademark Registration in Indonesia.
– You could check the Procedure of Trademark in Indonesia here.
– You can also check the Required documents of filing trademark in Indonesia
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