The omission of representative images from official Trademark Gazettes has been causing controversy in Indonesia.
Under the current Trademark Law (No. 15 of 2001), applications that have passed substantive examination are published for opposition purposes. The marks appear in Trademark Gazettes that are published periodically by the Directorate-General of Intellectual Property. The purpose of publishing the marks is to give any interested third parties a chance to examine the applications as filed, and (if desired) file an opposition within the prescribed three month period.
Below is an extract of a page from a recent Trademark Gazette. On this page appear both word (plain letter) trademarks, device (logo) trademarks, and mixed word and device marks.
Below is another extract of a page from the same Trademark Gazette, this time featuring some of the controversial publications.
All the published trademarks appear to be word marks, but on closer examination they all start with the word “lukisan” which in context means ‘logo’. Some enquiries at the Trademark Office reveal that if scanned images of trademarks have not yet been uploaded to the Trademark Office database when it comes time to publish the Trademark Gazettes, this is how these device marks will be published.
What follows is a debate over the consequences of not properly publishing representative images of the applications. In the circumstances, it can be argued that interested third parties have not been given a proper opportunity to examine and oppose the marks. Potentially, each of the trademarks could be the subject of Administrative Court proceedings - claiming the marks were not properly processed by the Trademark Office.
Trademark Office gazettes with the problematic publications can be downloaded from the DGIP website here.