New hearing procedure benefits trademark applicants

The Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights has introduced a hearing as part of the trademark registration process, pursuant to the Trademark Law 2001. As a result, if an application is to be rejected, the applicant may now file a response. If the response is dismissed and the trademark application rejected, the applicant may appeal.

Despite the possibility of a hearing, the process of registering a mark under the new Trademark Law is much quicker than under the previous legislation. Under the previous law, an application was first examined to determine whether it satisfied administrative requirements. If successful, the application was then published in the Trademark Gazette for a period of six months in order to allow interested parties to oppose the registration. Following this six-month period, the application was then examined to determine whether the substantive requirements for registration were satisfied. Under the new procedure, the two examinations take place back to back. If deemed acceptable, the application is then published in the Trademark Gazette for three months so that oppositions to registration may be raised.

Cita Priapantja, Biro Oktroi Rooseno, Jakarta