When talking about a business, the term trademark often comes up as an important element that must be considered. A trademark is an identity that distinguishes the products or services of a business from its competitors in the market.
The importance of trademarks in the business world cannot be ignored, as they not only provide legal protection, but also play a key role in marketing strategies and building consumer confidence.
Unfortunately, there are still many business people in Indonesia who do not understand the importance of registering a trademark properly.
So far, they are said to have only focused on production and marketing, while trademarking has been neglected.
From the observations of the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DJKI) of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, of the 100 MSME participants who were asked about trademarks, none of them had a registered trademark.
In 2022, out of 82 thousand trademark registration applications submitted, only 62 thousand registrations were accepted, or the equivalent of about 75 percent.
In line with this, CEO & Founder of Kontrak Hukum, Rieke Caroline stated, that more than 80 percent of business people who enter the Kontrak Hukum platform are polemic or have problems with trademark registration.
Whereas a registered trademark can prevent claims from irresponsible parties and can protect the brand from being used by others without permission.
The central government hopes that MSME players can help support the national economy of the community, one of which is seriousness in protecting their brands. This is because the brand is one type of Intellectual Property (IP) that must be legally protected.
Constraints of Business Actors in Trademark Registration
Based on DGKI’s observation, businesses are constrained by costs in the trademark registration process.
In fact, as long as there is an official letter and a statement that the person concerned is an MSME actor, the government will provide relief. Simply by paying Rp500 thousand, then it can register the brand.
Compared to the IDR 1.8 million for general applicants, there are also facilities from the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, free of charge for obtaining IPR, especially trademark applications.
In addition, related to the trademark registration process, it does require a longer time than applying for a license. This must be done carefully because it involves the granting of rights.
The process must be in accordance with international legal principles. In general, the government has provided acceleration, which was previously in Law 20/2016 the registration application process was 8-9 months, after Law 11/2020 it became only 4-6 months.
As for business people, it is also recommended to conduct a search on the website as a precautionary measure and consultation whether the brand to be registered already exists or not.
Considering that many of the business people whose online store sites were forced to close because they used other people’s brand names or resembled registered brands.
“For that we must have a uniqueness in the trademark. And secondly, after having uniqueness, we don’t forget to analyze whether the trademark infringes on others, then if it has, then we can analyze whether the trademark infringes on others. clear we can register it,” Rieke explained.
Trademark Registration and Its Urgency for Businesses
Trademark registration with the DGKI is a form of protection for business people. By registering it, business people not only obtain exclusive rights to the brand but can also add business assets that have value.
This is because brands can be a driving factor for a product to have big sales in the market. Moreover, if the brand is made with a unique composition of writing creations, images, and colors so that it can make potential customers interested in buying.
To convince businesses of the importance of registering a brand, here are a series of other benefits that can be obtained:
- As the identity of a product of goods and / or services owned by MSME actors
- Can increase competitiveness in the business world
- Able to be the strength of the product to be more easily accepted by the community
- Become one of the marketing strategies in building product image and reputation
- Brand rights can be licensed, thus becoming a direct source of income in the form of royalties
- Can be a valuable business asset
- Preventing parties from using and/or marketing products that are identical or similar to your mark.
- Receive legal protection for a period of 10 years from the date of receipt, and can be extended for the same period of time
- Contribute to market transparency, which benefits consumers as well as businesses
- Brings future economic benefits
- Increase consumer confidence in the quality of products sold
Let’s Register a Trademark Now!
The importance of trademark registration should not be ignored. This is because trademarks are one part of intellectual property rights and this registration is a form of business actors trying to protect what is their intellectual property.
In addition, by registering a trademark, businesses will also have the right to prevent and prohibit anyone from using the same trademark that has been registered, especially for products or services of the same type.
Business actors also do not need to worry, because now since the enactment of the Job Creation Law, the process has become shorter from the fastest 180 days to 30 days.
However, before registering a trademark, you should do a trademark check first. This is done to avoid rejection when applying for registration or a lawsuit filed by another party due to the similarity of the trademark that has been registered.
To ensure the process runs smoothly, many business people in Indonesia have now found the right solution through trusted digital platforms, one of which is Kontrak Hukum.
Through reliable services that have been used by thousands of businesses, Kontrak Hukum can help businesses protect intellectual property more easily and efficiently.
That way, it is now easier for business people to secure brand ownership rights and avoid disputes.
