Significant IP developments combined with political elections made 2024 an important year forthe country, explain Nick Redfearn, Arifia Fajra and Kin Wah Chow of Rouse.
The IP landscape in Indonesia saw various developments in 2024, with new laws, amendments,and judicial interpretations shaping the field.
Here’s an overview of the key developments:
1. Third amendment to patent law No. 13 of 2016
Effective October 28, 2024, Law No. 65 of 2024 introduced various changes, the most important ofwhich are:
This maintains Indonesia’s patent working requirement for IP owners to report that their patents are implemented to maintain patents, a worry for foreign IP owners, especially in telecoms and pharma sectors.
The new law removes the previous five-year limit before patent expiry, allowing unrestricted use for research. This change could bring both benefits and challenges for various stakeholders.
2. Amendment to the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs Decree No. 172 of 2024
In March 2024, new guidelines were introduced to regulate administrative fines for private electronic system operators (ESOs) which fail to block specific user-generated content (UGC). Formalised in Decree No. 172 of 2024, the rules were later amended by Decree No. 522 of 2024, effective October 28, 2024. This amendment retained most of the original provisions while introducing a gradual approach to imposing fines through the content moderation compliance system. Enforcement of IP violations under these rules is anticipated to begin in late 2025.
3. Government Regulation No. 35 of 2024 on franchises
Introduced September 2, 2024, this regulation revoked the previous Government Regulation No.42 of 2007 on Franchises. Key updates include:
4. Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 32 of 2024 on the responsibilities of digital platform companies to support quality journalism or presidential regulation on publisher rights.
This regulation targets the interplay between digital platforms and mass media content. Indonesia’s traditional press has complained that their content is reused on digital platforms, leading to advertising revenue falls.
Now digital content platforms will need to pay news publishers for distributing their content.
Other alternative arrangements are possible including profit sharing, data sharing, or otherstructures. This will apply to overseas platforms from Meta to Yahoo.
5. Government Regulation No. 45 of 2024 on non-tax revenue
Introduced October 18, 2024, this regulation revoked the previous Government Regulation No. 28 of 2019 on types and rates of non-tax state revenue applicable to The Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
This adjusted and updated fees for IP services, including trademarks, geographical indications, patents, and copyright registration.
Unusually there were several court cases of significance to IP in 2024.
Indonesia’s Constitutional Court extended the non-use period from three to five years before amark can be cancelled for non-use, allowing trademark owners more time before their marks can be challenged for cancellation.
The Indonesian Constitutional Court reinterpreted Article 10 of the Copyright Law, originally designed to hold landlords accountable for physical copyright infringements, such as pirated DVDs sold in malls. The court extended the provision to include ISPs and digital platforms, addressing the shift of piracy to digital domains. This decision seems to impose liability on ISPs for copyright violations on their platforms, akin to landlord liability for physical goods.
A Jakarta court awarded IDR 74.5 billion ($5 million) in damages in a trademark case involving a local food and beverage company and a Malaysian coffee producer. Although later reduced to IDR 12.5 billion on appeal, the case saw a huge award for IP damages.
Despite each case being decided on merit, this outsized award hopefully shows that civil courts will take IP violation very seriously.
Indonesia has seen minor improvements in IP enforcement in recent years, such as more frequent raids and increased transparency through initiatives like the IP Task Force and the IP Crime Forum.
However, these efforts remain sporadic, and significant progress is unlikely before mid-2025, following the post election reorganisation at the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP).
The enforcement process remains slow and burdened by bureaucracy. The two primary enforcement channels—police and the IP Office’s Government Enforcement Officers (PPNS)—are both hindered by procedural delays.
Customs registration, a valuable tool for combating counterfeiting, is limited to Indonesian legal entities. This restriction excludes foreign trademark owners without a local subsidiary, potentially violating the TRIPS principle of National Treatment.
According to the DGIP’s 2023 annual report published in 2024, Indonesia saw the following number of IP filings in 2023:
Copyright is an online deposit system. These figures indicate a robust level of IP filing activity.
The transition after 10 years to a new government under Prabowo Subianto presents challenges and opportunities. His connection to the 1990s government (as Suharto’s son in law), worries those who fear regression to the past.
But any new government after such a long period could enable change. As the largest market in ASEAN IP owners cannot ignore Indonesia and they continue to be impatient for the country to reach its full potential.
This article was originally published on WIPR
