AKHKI (Indonesian IP Consultant's Association) on 20 August 2014 held a Halal Bihalal event (a social gathering that follows Eid ul Fitr celebrations). The event was attended by 60 IP Consultants, all directors of Directorate General of Intellectual Property offices, and the Indonesian 2014 IPR Ambassador, Afgan Syahreza (an Indonesian pop singer).
It was encouraging to hear from the Director General of Intellectual Property Rights of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (DGIP), Ahmad M.Ramli, that the new Copyright Law is now being reviewed by the House of Representatives (DPR) Working Committee (Panja DPR). This new Copyright Law is one of 66 laws in the National Program of Legislation in 2014 that is scheduled to be debated this year (see our post here). At the Halal Bihalal event, the Director General also shared that in May 2014, the Director General and the Director General of WIPO entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the Provision of Alternative Dispute Resolution Services to Parties Involved in Cases Filed with DGIPR”. He mentioned that going forward, the DGIP will coordinate a number of programs to develop Alternative Dispute Resolution Services, including to increase numbers of mediators and arbitrators with IPR expertise, with a view to encouraging disputed parties to settle disputes through mediation or other ADR processes before filing complaints with the DGIP.