Our IP Litigation Team provides practical solutions to protect and enforce IP rights in Indonesia. We develop effective strategies tailored to each case, representing clients before the Commercial Court and relevant authorities in trademark, patent, and other IP litigation matters.
Intellectual property disputes in Indonesia are handled by the Commercial Court, which has jurisdiction over IP matters including trademark cancellation, infringement, patent invalidation, and copyright disputes. Proceedings are relatively fast compared with more developed legal jurisdictions, and costs are manageable. For rights holders with IP in Indonesia, the Commercial Court provides a practical and effective forum for protecting and defending those intellectual property rights.
SKC Law’s litigation practice covers the full range of intellectual property disputes heard before the Commercial Court, as well as pre-litigation proceedings before the Trademark Appeal Commission (TMAC) and the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP). SKC Law combines litigation, prosecution, and enforcement strategies to achieve commercially favourable outcomes for clients.
Registered rights are the primary basis for both offence and defence in IP disputes. SKC Law’s litigation strategy is built around this reality: securing, maintaining, and where necessary, challenging IP registrations as an integrated programme rather than a series of isolated actions.
Related reading: Trade Dress Protection and Trademark Similarity in Indonesia
SKC Law provides litigation services across five practice areas: trademark cancellation, non-use deletion, opposition, trademark appeal, and patent invalidation. All services are available to rights holders instructing the firm directly, and to overseas IP service firms and law firms acting on behalf of their clients.
A cancellation claim is the primary mechanism for challenging a registered trademark in Indonesia, the most common form of trademark litigation. It is a full litigation proceeding heard before the Commercial Court, with first-instance proceedings typically concluding in around six months.
A cancellation claim may be filed on the following grounds:
Similarity to a prior registered trademark for similar goods or services.
Similarity to a well-known mark for similar or dissimilar goods or services (subject to specific evidential criteria).
Bad faith - where the registered trademark was filed by a party that knew, or ought to have known, of a prior rights holder.
Similarity to a legal entity’s name, geographical indication, or official sign.
A cancellation claim must generally be filed within five years of the registration date. However, where bad faith is established, this time limit does not apply, a cancellation claim may be filed at any time.
Bad faith registration is a challenge in Indonesia. Third parties may register marks belonging to foreign rights holders who have not yet filed locally, taking advantage of Indonesia’s first to file trademark system. Indonesia does not define “bad faith” in its Trademark Law, requiring claims to be built on circumstantial evidence – including prior business relationships, knowledge of the foreign mark’s reputation, and patterns of registering third-party brands. SKC Law has successfully pursued bad faith cancellation actions based on evidence of prior distribution arrangements, overlapping directorship, and patterns of registering internationally recognised marks.
Evidence considerations: establishing well-known trademark status in Indonesia requires demonstrating market recognition, likelihood of confusion with the well-known mark, sales volume, investment in promotion, duration of use, registration in other countries, and prior enforcement actions or judicial acknowledgments. Indonesia has no register of well-known marks – in practice, well-known status is recognised through court decisions. Dated evidence is essential; it must establish the mark’s status as at the date the cancelled application was filed, not the date proceedings are initiated.
Related reading: Trademark Registration Indonesia 2025: Filing & Updates
Our litigation team can represent clients in courts throughout Indonesia, from the Commercial Courts to the Supreme Court.
Indonesia’s Trademark Law provides for the deletion of a registered trademark where it has not been used for three consecutive years from the date of registration or last use. A deletion claim is a full litigation proceeding before the Commercial Court.
The plaintiff bears the initial evidential burden, which requires submitting a minimum of two pieces of evidence to substantiate the claim. A strong starting point is to examine whether goods covered by the registration are required to hold a product circulation permit under Indonesian regulation — for example, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, or toy products. Absence of such a permit creates a prima facie presumption of non-use.
A material practical risk in deletion proceedings is that the defendant may manufacture evidence of use after proceedings are initiated. There are no pre-trial discovery procedures in Indonesia; defendants are not required to disclose evidence in advance. SKC Law advises clients on pre-filing evidence gathering strategies designed to anticipate and counter manufactured evidence of use.
Deletion proceedings can be combined with other litigation strategy elements. Where a trademark is both non-use vulnerable and blocking a client’s own application, SKC Law may pursue deletion alongside cancellation and a simultaneous refiling of the client’s mark, compressing the overall timeline to resolution.
An opposition against a published trademark application is the most cost-efficient way to prevent a conflicting mark from proceeding to registration, and engaging an IP lawyer early to monitor and act within the two-month window is far less expensive than cancellation proceedings after registration.
An opposition can be filed by any interested party during the two-month publication period following TMO acceptance of an application. No extensions of time are available.
The grounds for opposition include:
All opposition documents are submitted electronically to the TMO. Foreign individuals and entities must engage a locally registered IP consultant. SKC Law’s lawyers are registered IP consultants with more than 10 years of experience and remain active members of the Asosiasi Konsultan Hak Kekayaan Intelektual (AKHKI).
SKC Law monitors published trademark applications for clients with active portfolios in Indonesia, enabling timely opposition filings within the strict two-month window. Monitoring is coordinated with trademark search and clearance searches to ensure that conflicting applications are identified and addressed before they proceed to registration.
Where a trademark application fails substantive examination, resulting in a permanent rejection by the Trademark Office (TMO), the applicant may appeal to the Trademark Appeal Commission (TMAC). The TMAC operates independently from the TMO but falls under the administration of the DGIP.
The window for filing an appeal is 90 working days from receipt of the TMO Notice of Rejection. A new Power of Attorney specifically for the TMAC appeal must be provided; the Power of Attorney used for the initial application cannot be reused.
Applicants may also participate in the relevant TMAC hearing to present and discuss their arguments directly with the TMAC Judges. If the TMAC accepts the appeal, the application proceeds to registration. If the appeal is rejected, the applicant may file a claim with the Commercial Court within three months of receiving the TMAC decision.
SKC Law remains confident based on its historical success before the TMAC, supported by targeted appeal arguments and, where appropriate, direct representation at TMAC hearings to address examiner objections. SKC Law also coordinates with the Trademark Office on examination practices, particularly for non-traditional marks where standards are always developing.
A patent invalidation claim is a full litigation proceeding heard before the Commercial Court, typically concluding in around six months at first instance. It may be filed against both standard patents and simple patents (utility models). The plaintiff must demonstrate a legitimate interest – typically, that the patent is causing disruption to or adversely affecting the plaintiff’s rights or business activities.
Grounds for invalidation under Indonesian Patent Law include:
Prior art searches are fundamental to patent invalidation strategy. SKC Law works with overseas counsel to obtain official copies and certified documents of prior art from patent offices in other jurisdictions. Understanding Indonesian patent law evidence standards is essential: official citations must be apostilled, and foreign-language documents must be translated by a sworn Indonesian translator.
Filing an invalidation claim has significant value beyond its final outcome. The filing receipt may be used to notify enforcement authorities or courts handling parallel infringement matters that the patent’s validity is being challenged, providing grounds to halt or suspend infringement proceedings until the invalidation process is resolved.
SKC Law also advises on litigation strategy in response to patent infringement claims, including preparing coordinated defensive measures and, where appropriate, advising on the merits of non-infringing design-arounds while proceedings are pending.
Related reading: Indonesia’s New KUHP and Intellectual Property Enforcement
Not every IP dispute requires immediate court proceedings. SKC Law provides pre-litigation strategy advice to help clients determine the most cost-effective and commercially proportionate course of action. This includes:
SKC Law’s Dispute Resolution & Advisory Team, led by Andrew Conduit, brings legal, commercial, and cross-cultural expertise to complex IP disputes. The team has a proven ability to bridge legal, linguistic, and commercial gaps — an important capability in matters involving multinational clients, intellectual property firms, and Indonesian counterparties.
All intellectual property civil proceedings, including trademark cancellation, deletion, infringement, and patent invalidation, are heard before the Commercial Court of the Central Jakarta District Court. For matters involving foreign defendants, jurisdiction is confirmed at the Central Jakarta court.
Key features of Commercial Court proceedings that international clients should understand:
First-instance proceedings typically conclude in around six months. There are two subsequent levels of appeal: cassation to the Supreme Court (allow 12–18 months) and reconsideration appeal (allow 24–36 months).
There are no pre-trial discovery procedures; defendants are not required to disclose evidence in advance.
A losing party does not pay the winning party’s legal costs.
Courts are not obliged to follow previous decisions.
SKC Law advises clients on evidence preparation strategies and procedural discipline designed to minimise exposure to this risk.
Evidence standards are demanding. Documents from overseas must be apostilled and sworn-translated into Indonesian. Original product samples are required for hearings and returned upon conclusion. Power of Attorney documents must be correctly executed, with appropriate stamp duty affixed. Procedural errors, including defects in the Power of Attorney, can result in the dismissal of a claim without consideration of the substantive issues.
SKC Law manages all procedural requirements as a core part of its litigation service. Its team has direct experience identifying and addressing the formality requirements that have caused prior proceedings by other counsel to fail.
Related reading: Nice Classification 2026 Changes: Indonesia Impact Guide
In the past 12 months
Consumer goods and services
While non-traditional trademarks have been recognised in Indonesia since 2016, securing registration is still not easy. Our Prosecution & Litigation Team was able to secure a three-dimensional trademark registration for a famous gummy bear brand through a combination of strategic planning and lobbying efforts at the Trademark Office. After encountering a preliminary objection from the Trademark Office, our team successfully engaged with examiners, prepared additional supporting evidence, and ensured that sufficient acquired distinctiveness was demonstrated.
Consumer goods and services
Although bad faith trademark filings remain a recurring issue in Indonesia, proving bad faith is far from straightforward. In a recent dispute involving brands owned by a California-based company, our Litigation Team built a successful cancellation action around evidence of a prior business relationship with the opposing party’s affiliate. Evidence of correspondence during the relationship demonstrated prior knowledge that the plaintiff was the rightful owner of the brand. Our investigations also identified overlapping directors between the defendant and authorised distributor, as well as a broader pattern of registering third-party die-cast brands.
Consumer goods and services
Our client, known for its iconic lighters and signature “click,” engaged SKC Law to manage its trademark portfolio and address conflicting filings. A key issue arose when a third party registered a trademark despite several earlier similar applications being refused due to the well-known status of our client’s mark. SKC Law initiated cancellation proceedings before the Commercial Court, supported by evidence of our client’s longstanding reputation and prior examination history. The Court ultimately ordered cancellation of the third party mark, reaffirming the protection of our client’s mark in Indonesia.
SKC Law’s litigation clients include global sportswear and fashion brands, multinational food and beverage companies, industrial and agricultural businesses, technology platforms, gaming companies, pharmaceutical groups, and domestic consumer goods businesses. Across all sectors, the firm’s mandate covers brand protection, IP portfolio defence, and pro-active litigation strategy. The firm works with rights holders directly, and with overseas IP law firms and general counsel instructing on behalf of their clients in Indonesia.
Common questions. For specific advice, contact SKC Law at enquiries@skclaw.id.
Both are full litigation proceedings before the Commercial Court. Cancellation challenges the validity of a registered trademark on substantive grounds — similarity to a prior mark, bad faith, or well-known mark protection. Deletion is specifically for registered trademarks that have not been used for three consecutive years. The practical difference is in the evidence: cancellation requires building a case around prior rights or bad faith; deletion requires demonstrating non-use, which the defendant will typically contest with evidence of use that may have been manufactured after proceedings began. The choice between them depends on the facts of each case, and SKC Law often advises pursuing both in parallel where both grounds are available.
First-instance proceedings typically conclude in approximately six months. If either party appeals, cassation to the Supreme Court should be allowed an additional 12–18 months, and a further reconsideration appeal may take 24–36 months. Realistically, a fully contested IP dispute from filing to final decision can take three to five years. Many matters settle at first instance or at the cassation stage. For time-sensitive matters, SKC Law advises on provisional measures and parallel non-court strategies that can produce faster commercial outcomes while full proceedings are pending.
Yes, but foreign individuals and entities must engage a locally registered IP consultant to file on their behalf. Only locally domiciled individuals or entities may file directly with the TMO. SKC Law acts as the local representative for overseas rights holders and instructing IP firms. The opposition window is two months from publication of the application — no extensions are available. Monitoring published applications is therefore essential for any rights holder with an active portfolio in Indonesia.
Intellectual property disputes involving bad faith are among the most evidence-intensive in Indonesian trademark litigation. “Bad faith” is not defined in the Trademark Law and must be established through circumstantial evidence. Relevant indicators include: a prior business relationship or distribution arrangement between the defendant and the rights holder; documented correspondence showing the defendant’s prior knowledge of the mark; a pattern of registering internationally recognised third-party brands; and the defendant’s lack of any genuine business activity in the relevant class. SKC Law builds bad faith cancellation cases through investigation and intelligence work as well as legal analysis, combining its prosecution and litigation teams from the outset.
If a first-instance court rejects an invalidation claim, the plaintiff may file a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court (allow 12–18 months) and, if necessary, a reconsideration appeal (allow 24–36 months). Separately, a failed invalidation claim does not prevent the plaintiff from pursuing other options, such as negotiating a settlement with the patent holder or licensee, designing around the patent in question, or revisiting the claim if new prior art comes to light. SKC Law advises clients on all available options before and throughout proceedings, including the realistic assessment of chances of success at each stage, to ensure that litigation resources are deployed where they will have the most impact.
