Intellectual property · Indonesia
Trademark registration in Indonesia
Indonesia is first-to-file, and its courts have held that line even against Pierre Cardin and IKEA. We search, file with the DJKI through registered consultants, answer the examiner, and watch the register so the mark stays yours.
Why it matters
First-to-file, enforced even against the famous
Indonesian trademark rights belong to whoever registers first. The courts have applied that rule to some of the biggest names in the world, and they will apply it to yours.
Pierre Cardin and IKEA both lost here
Pierre Cardin lost the rights to his own name in Indonesia to a local businessman who filed first, and IKEA lost marks in key furniture classes to a local company through a non-use claim. If first-to-file holds against them, the safe assumption is that it holds against everyone.
The applicant is often someone who knows you
The marks that block market entries are rarely filed by strangers. Distributors, former partners, and watchers of import records file for foreign brands they expect to arrive. By the time you notice, you are negotiating for your own name.
Ten years from the filing date
Once registered, protection runs from the day you filed, for ten years, renewable indefinitely. The official fee is under USD 120 per class. Recovering a taken mark through the Commercial Court costs hundreds of times that, when it works at all.
What can be registered
Almost anything that identifies you, if it's distinctive.
A registrable mark identifies your business rather than describing the product. Generic and purely descriptive terms are refused, and so are marks confusingly similar to existing registrations in your classes.
Word marksBrand names, company names, taglines, and letter or number marks, the most common filing.
Logos & devicesVisual symbols and graphic elements, registered as you use them.
Combined marksWords and graphics together, protecting the lock-up as a whole.
Shapes & 3D marksThe form of a product or its packaging, provided the shape is not functional.
Color marksSpecific colors or combinations, where they have acquired distinctiveness in the market.
Sound & motion marksJingles and animated logos, registrable where they are distinctive and can be represented.
Every application names the goods and services it covers, grouped under the Nice Classification's 45 classes (Indonesia applies the current 13th edition). The classes you choose define the protection you get, and one application can cover several classes, with official fees counted per class. We map your products and services to the right classes as part of the search.
The process
How registration works
Five stages with the DJKI, all electronic, with one structural quirk worth knowing: Indonesia publishes your application for opposition before it examines it. When nothing is contested, plan eight to twelve months from filing to certificate, and the 2026 procedural reforms are shortening that.
1
Search before filingDays
We search the DJKI's PDKI database and the Madrid designations for identical and confusingly similar marks in your classes, including transliterations and Indonesian-language equivalents, which is where foreign marks most often collide. If the mark has a problem, you find out now rather than a year in.
2
Filing and formality check~15 working days
We file through the DJKI's online system: the mark, the classes, the applicant details, and the ownership declaration. A complete file clears the formality check in about fifteen working days, and the filing date it fixes is the date your protection will run from once registered.
3
Publication and opposition2 months
The application is published in the official gazette for two months, before any examiner has assessed it, and anyone may oppose during that window, which cannot be extended. If an opposition lands, we draft your response and the file moves to examination with both arguments in it.
4
Substantive examination5–9 months
An examiner assesses distinctiveness and conflicts with earlier marks, within a statutory 150 working days. Under the regulation in force since February 2026, unopposed applications move to examination within 30 days of publication closing, and opposed ones within 90, so the queue is getting shorter. Office actions are answered on your behalf.
5
Registration and certificateOn approval
The DJKI issues the certificate electronically: ten years of protection counted from the filing date, renewable indefinitely. What keeps it alive from here is worth reading twice.
Requirements
What we need from you
The file is short. Most clients send everything in one email.
- A clear representation of the mark. The logo file in high resolution, or the word mark exactly as you use it.
- What it covers. Your products or services, described in your own words; we map them to the Nice classes.
- Applicant details. The full legal name and address of the person or company that will own the mark.
- A signed power of attorney. Foreign applicants must file through a registered Indonesian IP consultant; the POA appoints one, and we handle this inside the service.
- A signed ownership statement. A declaration that the mark is yours to register; it's a standard form, and a false one sinks the application.
- Priority documents, only if applicable. Where you're claiming priority from an application filed abroad within the last six months.
Keeping it alive
No use declarations here. Registrations still die in three ways
Indonesia doesn't require the periodic use filings the Philippines does, which lulls owners into treating the certificate as permanent. It isn't, and the failure modes are predictable.
Missed renewalsProtection runs ten years from the filing date. The renewal window opens six months before expiry, and late filings are accepted only briefly after it, at a higher fee. Miss both and the mark lapses, and anyone, including the person who has been waiting, can file for it.
Three years of non-useA mark unused in commerce for three consecutive years can be deleted on petition by anyone with an interest, the exact mechanism a local company used against IKEA. Keeping dated evidence of use (sales, listings, packaging, marketing) is cheap insurance.
Unwatched publicationsBecause the DJKI publishes applications before examining them, the two-month opposition window is your first and best chance to stop a confusingly similar mark, and it cannot be extended. If nobody is watching the gazette for you, collisions slide through to registration.
Stale recordsAssignments, name changes, and address changes recorded with the DJKI keep the certificate enforceable and the renewal smooth. The February 2026 regulation made these recordals faster, which removes the last excuse for leaving them undone.
Our service builds all four into the engagement: the renewal calendared a decade out, use evidence kept with the file, a watch on the gazette for marks that collide with yours, and the register kept current as your company changes.
What it costs
The DJKI's official fee is IDR 1,800,000 per class for online filings (roughly USD 110), with no separate publication or registration fees, and any number of goods within the class. Emerhub's fee for the search, filing, and prosecution is quoted on request per class, with oppositions, responses, and renewals quoted as they arise.
Why Emerhub
Filed by the team that's already here.
Already on the ground
The same Jakarta team that handles incorporations, BPOM registrations, and import licensing files your trademark, through registered Indonesian IP consultants. Most marks ride alongside a market entry, and the timing between the two is part of the advice.
A straight answer before you spend
If the search shows your mark is weak, descriptive, or already taken, we tell you before you pay filing fees, with options: adjust the mark, narrow the classes, or challenge what's blocking you.
We keep it alive
Many providers file and disappear. Indonesian registrations are won and lost at the renewal, the non-use rule, and the unwatched gazette, so ours come with the calendar and the watch built in.
Common questions
Indonesia trademark FAQs
Specific questions about registering and keeping a mark in Indonesia.
Does registering my PT protect my brand name?
No. The company name approved at incorporation only stops someone from registering an identical company name; it gives no trademark rights. Your brand needs its own DJKI registration, and until it has one, anyone can file for it, including your distributor.
How long does registration take?
Eight to twelve months from filing to certificate when nothing is contested: the formality check in about fifteen working days, two months of publication, then substantive examination within a statutory 150 working days. The regulation in force since February 2026 moves unopposed applications into examination within 30 days of publication closing, so the realistic number is shrinking. Protection runs from the filing date once registered.
What does it cost?
The official fee is IDR 1,800,000 per class for online filings, with no separate publication or registration fees. Our fee covers the search, the filing through a registered consultant, and the prosecution to certificate, quoted per class; oppositions and contested matters are quoted as they arise. Schedule a call with your mark and product list and we'll give you the exact figure.
Someone already registered my brand. What can I do?
It depends where their filing stands. If it's still in the two-month publication window, we oppose. If it's registered, the routes run through the Commercial Court: an invalidation suit within five years of registration (no time limit where the filing was in bad faith), or a deletion claim once the mark has sat unused for three consecutive years, the route that worked against IKEA's registrations. Negotiated purchase and coexistence are also real options, and sometimes the cheapest ones. We assess which fits before you spend on any of them.
Do I need a local agent to register?
Foreign applicants are required to file through a registered Indonesian IP consultant; it's a statutory rule, not a preference. Our service includes the consultant, the power of attorney that appoints them, and a local address for correspondence, so official notices reach people who act on them. Everything else runs electronically, and you never need to visit.
What is the Nice Classification, and can I file multiple classes?
The international system that groups all goods and services into 45 classes; Indonesia applies the current 13th edition. Your registration protects the mark in the classes you file, so the class choice defines the protection. One application can cover several classes, with the official fee counted per class.
What happens if someone opposes my application?
Oppositions are filed during the two-month publication window, which cannot be extended. You then submit a response, and the substantive examiner decides with both arguments in the file; under the 2026 rules, opposed applications move to examination within 90 days. Many oppositions resolve on the strength of a well-drafted response, and we tell you honestly when a coexistence deal is the better outcome.
Do I have to prove I'm using the mark?
There are no periodic use declarations in Indonesia. The use rule bites differently: a mark unused for three consecutive years can be deleted on petition, so the protection is only as strong as your evidence of use. We keep dated proof (sales records, listings, packaging, campaigns) with the file, so a deletion claim meets a wall instead of a gap.
Can I use the Madrid System instead of filing locally?
Yes; Indonesia has been a Madrid member since 2018, so you can designate it in an international application. The DJKI examines the designation under the same rules, publication and opposition included, and any office action or opposition still needs a registered local consultant to answer it. For an Indonesia-only filing, the national route is usually simpler; for a multi-country program, Madrid with local support works well.
How does renewal work?
The registration renews every ten years, counted from the filing date. The renewal window opens six months before expiry, and a short late window exists after it at a higher fee; miss both and the mark lapses. The 2026 regulation sped renewals up considerably, and we calendar yours the day the certificate issues.
Protecting a brand in Indonesia?
Talk to our Jakarta team
A free, no-obligation consultation: thirty minutes with our Jakarta team to check your mark, settle the classes, and map the filing, including what to do if someone got there first.
Phone+62 21 2205 7930
OfficeSatrio Tower, Floor 6, Unit 5
RT.7/RW.2, Kuningan
Jakarta 12950, Indonesia
RT.7/RW.2, Kuningan
Jakarta 12950, Indonesia