Notes with IP protection when entering Indonesia
When a famous brand enters a market that has weak IP laws, there is a very high chance that its own brand has been registered in some way. This is especially true for countries in the Asia region such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, etc. In this article, we will talk about the notes with IP protection when entering Indonesia.
Normally, there is 2 common situation of the action of brand stealing, including the individuals/businesses that see the opportunity to get rich quickly by ‘blackmailing’ the famous brand and the action of ‘backstabbing’ by distributors or local partners of that brand when pre-emptively registering the IP of their foreign principals.
To prevent the consequences of these actions, it’s best that the brand owners:
- Register IP rights before officially entering the market.
- Conduct due diligence on the associates.
- Impose minimum contractual terms in the partnership agreement.
Register IP rights before officially entering the market
At the start of the building and development of a business, business owner should have made up their minds about the way forward for their business, meaning the countries that they intended to enter.
Although this might sound hard for a business that has only begun to develop, not to mention the money needed to realize that goal at the start, it should at least be considered.
With that in mind, the brand owner should have 1 or 2 targeted markets that they can focus on registering IP assets, specifically trademark early to protect their rights.
The trademark right is normally protected for 10 years so they will have a lot of time to develop their own brand and expand to that market (Indonesia).
Early registration at this stage will completely block bad-faith registrations of other shady organizations and individuals who plan to blackmail brand owners.
This not only applies to SMEs but also to famous and big enterprises cause if they waste time on re-acquiring the trademark, they would waste valuable developing time. This is learned in full by Starbucks – a global coffee brand when entering Russia back in 2005.
Conduct due diligence on the associates
When expanding to Indonesia, brand owners should conduct due diligence on their associates and partners that they have been working with, especially in regard to trademark registrations and disputes.
Not just for IP protection but when considering the favorable development of the business in Indonesia, due diligence is a necessary step.
In the IP matter, key individuals that are related to the Indonesian Partner should be investigated extra carefully.
Check them and their relatives, as well as their organizations, and associates to see if they have registered any types of IP assets in the country as well as in other countries or not.
Impose minimum contractual terms in the partnership agreement
Trusting in the market is a luxury commodity. Accordingly, brand owners should not put too much trust in their Indonesian partner, as well as every other type of partner as they may betray you at one point if the benefits are large enough.
Thus, to minimize the damage, brand owners should only establish minimum contractual terms in the partnership agreement so that if there is damage, it can be fixed shortly after, or if the damage is unfixable throughout the terms of the agreement, brand owners would only have to wait for the rest of the minimum contractual terms.
*** 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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