Recently, Detik.com released an online article discussing the apparent tendency for foreign, internationally renowned brands to lose trademark disputes in Indonesia against local, Indonesian brands. The article cited Delfi’s recent failed attempts at trademark registration for “CHACHA” due to similarities with the local brand “Cha-Cha” which has already been registered and owned by an Indonesian locale. Delfi tried several appeals, even to the Indonesian Supreme Court, but to no avail.
This case is one example of instances where international Goliaths crumble against local Davids. Swedish furniture franchise IKEA lost the trademark rights for objects in classes 20 and 21 after a lawsuit by a Surabaya-based company. Puma, one of the world’s most famous and successful brands of sportswear, lost to Indonesian-owned Pumada”. While Sidoarjo shoe company “Prolexus” managed to win their dispute with Toyota, who accused their name of being too similar with “Lexus”.
The defeats suffered by these international brands beg an interesting question: Do foreign brands tend to lose trademark disputes in Indonesia against Indonesian brands? Does the Indonesian IP ecosystem heavily favor local trademarks in disputes against foreign companies? Read more