IPR awareness continues to increase: Ministry

JAKARTA. The number of local products registered with the directorate general of intellectual property rights (HAKI) at the Law and Human Rights Ministry has increased in past years on the growing awareness of the importance of product protection.

According to the ministry’s data, the number of registered trademarks has grown significantly from 20,660 in 2003 to 62,455 by the end of 2012.

The figure is projected to keep rising in the future as the directorate general processes more products.

“People have felt the benefit of protecting their products through HAKI because the price of their products have jumped. In addition, their customers feel safe [about the products],” HAKI secretary Razilu said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

He said the kinds of products registered with the directorate ranged from food, clothing, design and electronic devices to local produce such as Cilembu sweet honey potato, Acehnese nilam oil and Sidoarjo smoked bandeng (saltwater milkfish).

“Local producers have started registering their products recently because it benefits them in many ways; not only will it boost their revenues but also prevent other entrepreneurs or producers from creating and claiming their products,” he said.

The registration of local produce items also helped improve the image and reputation of local products, making them more competitive in the national market where various goods were sold.

In addition, it helped preserve traditional knowledge and boost agritourism, he added.

Apart from trademarks, the directorate data showed that the number patents, industrial designs and copyrights had also increased in the past several years.

Patents and industrial designs grew from 3,325 and 3,154 in 2003 to 7,026 and 4,579 in 2012, respectively.

Meanwhile, the number of copyrighted products rose to 6,314 by the end of 2012 from 2,042 in 2003.

“We also encourage small and medium enterprises [SMEs] to register their products with HAKI since it will help boost their business,” he continued.

For SMEs, they would be charged only Rp 300,000 (US$24.9) while non-SME players would need to pay Rp 600,000 for one product.

Moreover, to smooth the registration process and make it convenient for those who wish to protect their intellectual property rights, the directorate is going to create an online registration system in the next few months.

He said that it was currently preparing the IT system, application, and internal human resources to manage the new system.

Currently, people can register their products through the directorate general office in the Kuningan area, South Jakarta, regional Law and Human Rights Department, or ask for assistance from HAKI consultants across the archipelago. (Nurfika Osman)