What the Event Signals for the Creative Economy and the IP Groundwork for Global Growth
Indonesia’s creative sector has an opportunity to strengthen commercialisation, and Jakarta is working to address it. The Jakarta IP Market (JIPM) 2026, a business marketplace for intellectual property (IP), ran recently in Jakarta. In its second year, it shifted from raising awareness to closing deals. The aim is simple: help local IP travel beyond Indonesia. For any creative business chasing that ambition, the first move is less glamorous than a licensing deal. It begins with owning and protecting the work, and for brands heading abroad, with international trademark registration in Indonesia.
From Awareness to Deals
The first JIPM, in 2025, focused on awareness. It introduced Indonesia’s IP ecosystem and its local characters, comics, animation, and games. This year the organisers rebuilt the event as a business-to-business (B2B) platform. The goal moved from visibility to concrete transactions.
JIPM 2026 ran on four pillars: an exhibition, a conference, networking, and a Licensing Deal Room. The Licensing Deal Room was new. It gave IP owners a private space to meet potential licensees, brand owners, manufacturers, and investors through scheduled, matched meetings. The organisers designed it to speed up the signing of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and partnerships.
JIPM 2026 chair Mochtar Sarman framed the problem plainly. Many Indonesian works, he said, “remain merely as content” when they could become products, licences, franchises, and cross-industry collaborations. Jakarta’s tourism and creative economy agency (Disparekraf) co-runs the event.
A Creative Economy Worth Protecting
Indonesia’s creative economy has become a serious economic force. According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the sector contributed Rp1,611.2 trillion in 2024, or 7.28 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Creative exports reached US$26.68 billion in the first ten months of 2025, close to 12 percent of non-oil-and-gas exports. The sector employed 27.4 million people in 2025, most of them under 40.
Furthermore, fashion and crafts lead these exports, and the top destinations are the United States, Switzerland, and Japan. In 2024 the government made the creative economy a standalone ministry. Jakarta remains the largest domestic investment hub for the sector.
You Can Only License What You Own
In practice, a deal room is only useful if the rights behind the deal are secure. This is where many creative businesses trip. A licence, a franchise, or a co-production all rest on clear, registered ownership.
Three steps matter before any negotiation. First, register the core IP. Trademarks protect names and logos, industrial design protects the look of a product, and patents protect how it works. Copyright arises automatically, but a recordal at the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) gives useful proof of ownership. Second, document the chain of title. Characters, games, and animation often pass through freelancers and studios, so assignments and work-for-hire terms should be in writing. Third, record the licence itself. Under Indonesian law, a licence must be recorded at the DGIP to bind third parties.
Franchising adds another layer. It is separately regulated, and generally requires registered marks and a franchise registration before a brand can be offered to franchisees. None of this is exciting. However, all of it is what makes a deal enforceable.
Taking a Trademark Abroad
Going global has a specific legal route. For trademarks, that route is the Madrid Protocol. Indonesia has been a member since 2 January 2018. A local brand owner can file a single international application through the DGIP and seek protection across more than 100 member countries. One filing, one language, one set of fees.
This is the practical mechanism behind the phrase “go global”. A studio that licenses a character into Japan, or a fashion label expanding into the United States, needs its mark protected in those markets first. The Madrid Protocol in Indonesia gives creative businesses an efficient way to secure that protection.
Importantly, one detail is easy to miss. When Indonesia joined, it declared that recording a licence in the international register has no effect at home. Licences that touch Indonesia must therefore still be recorded nationally at the DGIP. For a licensing-led event like JIPM, that distinction matters.
What Creative Businesses Should Do Now
The lesson from JIPM 2026 is not only about attending an event. It is about being ready to do business when the opportunity comes.
A few steps put a creative business in a stronger position. Audit and register the core IP before entering any deal room. Document who owns each work, and fix any gaps in assignments. Secure the key export markets early, using international trademark registration in Indonesia through the Madrid Protocol where marks are involved. Put clear licence terms in writing, and record them at the DGIP. Finally, plan for enforcement, because a property that travels might attract copycats.
In practice, none of these steps is difficult on its own. Together, they turn a creative asset into a commercial one you can license, franchise, and defend.
Moving Forward
JIPM 2026 is a sign of a maturing creative economy. Indonesia is no longer short of ideas, characters, or brands. What decides whether those assets become global businesses is the groundwork beneath them: clear ownership, registered rights, and protection that crosses borders.
The deal room captures the value. The legal foundation makes it real. This means the creative businesses that prepare the foundation first will be the ones ready to sign.
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This content is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on specific matters, contact enquiries@skclaw.id.
