Restaurant business activities are no stranger to the Indonesian people. Many Indonesians are interested in starting a business activity in the world of food and beverage (FnB) together with relatives or family. One example of a family FnB business is Ayam Goreng Suharti.
Yes, who doesn’t know this restaurant brand? This culinary specialty originating from the Yogyakarta area has successfully spread its wings to various regions. All thanks to the efforts and hard work pioneered by Suharti as the originator of this business. But did you realize that the legendary Ayam Goreng Suharti restaurant has two different logos? The first one has Suharti’s face, and the second one has two chickens with the letter S in the middle. Why is that? Is one of them fake? Here’s the review.
History of Suharti Fried Chicken Business
Quoting from Liputan6.com, Mrs. Suharti is a woman from Yogyakarta whose name soared because of her fried chicken. The special fried chicken flavor comes from Mbok Berek’s hereditary spices. Understandably, Mbok Berek’s fried chicken is considered by many residents of Yogyakarta, including the palace family. Reportedly, President Soekarno was also a great admirer of Mbok Berek’s crispy fried chicken. Learning from her predecessor’s success, Suharti began to pursue the fried chicken business. She made her own seasoning and sold her fried chicken from house to house with her husband. From there, she had the courage to open her own business in 1962 and still used the name Mbok Berek as her fried chicken brand. Mbok Berek, who was first famous for her fried chicken, actually prohibits any party from using her name as a brand in similar products. This is because some parties have tried to utilize her legendary brand to attract customers. Even so, Mbok Berek allows other parties to use her name, as long as they are still related to her. But as the business progressed, Suharti wanted to be more independent and decided to remove the Mbok Berek brand from her business. She chose to use her own name as the brand. In 1972, Mrs. Suharti’s Ayam Goreng restaurant was born, which she built with her husband. It was located at JL.Sucipto No.208 Yogyakarta and became the center of Ny.Suharti’s fried chicken trade at that time. Suharti and her husband, Sachlan, were very excited to build their fried chicken business. 13 years after its establishment, Suharti started to expand her business area.
READ ALSO: Breaking up a joint business, what are the legal provisions?
She opened several branches in various cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, Purworejo, Semarang and even Medan. By the 90s, Suharti’s fried chicken had even made its way to Denpasar. At that time, Mrs. Suharti’s Ayam Goreng business had a logo with a chicken and the letter ‘S’ in the center.
Suharti’s Fried Chicken Business Broke Up
In the midst of Suharti’s business success, there were problems that came her way. Her marriage broke down and unfortunately, the fried chicken restaurant business was already acquired and registered under her husband’s name. After the divorce, Sachlan took down all of Suharti’s photos and paintings in all of Ny.Suharti’s Ayam Goreng restaurants. But one thing was not changed, the name Ny.Suharti was still attached and used for the fried chicken. This also made Suharti lose her right to use the brand of the restaurant that she originally built with her husband. However, she did not lose her mind. With her courage, Suharti got up in 1991, and re-established her own restaurant. In order not to be easily copied, Suharti created a new logo with her own photo and removed the word ‘Ny’ from the restaurant’s name to become Ayam Goreng Suharti. She also obtained a patent for the name Rumah Makan Ayam Goreng Suharti in 1992. This is the background of why there are two different logos for Suharti Fried Chicken Restaurant, which is because there was a breakup in the family business.
Remember the First to File Principle in Trademark Registration!
From the example of Ms. Suharti’s business case, an important lesson can be drawn that it is important to immediately register the trademark with the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DJKI) under the name of the owner who contributed most to the establishment of the business. However, in the event that the joint business is dissolved and the joint trademark is to remain owned by each party, the ownership of the trademark is determined by mutual agreement of the parties. Ownership of the mark can remain jointly owned as long as the registered mark is recorded as being owned by both parties. But in this case, the trademark of Ayam Goreng Ny. Suharti was recorded as belonging only to Sachlan. Let’s also not forget that trademark registration in Indonesia applies the first to file principle, in accordance with Article 3 of Law Number 20 Year 2016 on Trademarks and Geographical Indications. Simply put, first to file is a “first come, first served” principle, which means that the rights to the trademark (such as exclusive rights) are obtained by the party who first registers the trademark at the DJKI and receives approval.
READ ALSO: First to File System in Trademark Registration
Although the first to file principle seems simple, its implications are very significant, especially in the trademark registration process because determining the ownership rights over the trademark becomes very crucial.
KH Contact
To avoid similar cases, immediately register your trademark officially with the DJKI Kemenkumham! Don’t forget to do a trademark analysis before doing so. To take care of it, Sobat KH can just leave it to Kontrak Hukum. We can help business owners to register trademarks through an analysis process first, thus minimizing the risk of disputes. For information on ordering services, please visit the KH Services – Trademark page. If you have other business needs, you can also get a free consultation at Ask KH or send a direct message (DM) to Instagram @kontrakhukum.
