The Directorate-General of Intellectual Property has regional offices that can be used for the purposes of filing applications.
Regional offices were established under the Decree of Ministry of Law and Human Rights Republic of Indonesia No.M.11-PR.07.06 of 2003 on The Appointment of Regional Offices of Law and Human Rights Department of the Republic of Indonesia for Receiving Intellectual Property Rights Applications, and the Decree of Ministry of Law and Human Rights Republic of Indonesia No.H01.PR.07.06 of 2004 on Admission Guidelines for Registration of Intellectual Property Rights Through Regional Offices of the Law and Human Rights Department of the Republic of Indonesia.
All applications for registration of intellectual property rights, which the exception of patent applications filed under the PCT system, can be filed at regional offices. The offices are located in:
- Aceh
- North Sumatera
- West Sumatera
- Riau
- Riau Islands
- South Sumatera
- Jambi
- Bandar Lampung
- Bengkulu
- Bangka Belitung
- DKI Jakarta
- Banten
- West Java
- Central Java
- D.I. Yogyakarta
- East Java
- West Kalimantan
- Central Kalimantan
- South Kalimantan
- East Kalimantan
- North Sulawesi
- Central Sulawesi
- South Sulawesi
- South East Sulawesi
- Gorontalo
- West Sulawesi
- Bali
- East Nusa Tenggara
- West Nusa Tenggara
- Maluku
- North Maluku
- Papua
- West Papua
The filing date assigned to an application filed with a regional office is the date the application is received (properly completed, and with supporting documents) at the regional office. The application is then forwarded to the Directorate-General of Intellectual Property in Jakarta.
However, applications filed with regional offices have sometimes been mishandled. For example, in Lie Wie Bing v. Ong Bambang Hartono (Supreme Court decision No.131 PK/Pdt.Sus/2012) an application was filed with the Surabaya regional office on 6 May 2008, but a filing date of 26 May 2008 (when all the required documents were received in the Jakarta office) was assigned. This became a major issue, because an application for registration of similar trademark was filed in Jakarta on 26 May 2008. The Court found that the regional application was properly filed, but that complete documents were not forwarded by the regional office to Jakarta. A later filing date was assigned when delivery of complete documents was subsequently arranged. The regional office was found to be at fault, and the Court ordered that a filing date of 6 May 2008 be assigned. A win for the applicant in the end, but one that was achieved only after incurring significant legal expenses (associated with a Commercial Court proceeding and Supreme Court appeals, with no prospects of recovering costs from the losing party).
Despite Lie Wie Bing's experience, using regional offices offers time and costs efficiencies, and are generally a good option for applicants based outside of Jakarta.
(Authored by Dian Kirana, Associate)