Commercial Court earns praise in copyright cases

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Commercial Court has earned the respect of the business sector for clear-cut, appropriate rulings and the rapid processing of copyright and trademark cases over the past three years.

This has led to an increasing number of copyright and trademark cases being filed with the court by foreign companies against locals accused of pirating patented and registered products, said a lawyer specializing in copyright and trademark law.

The lawyer, Rahmat Bastian told The Jakarta Post that such verdicts increased companies' trust in the court, encouraging them to file suit.

"Many multinational companies, which produce famous brands, filed lawsuits against local companies for selling fake versions of their products," explained Rahmat.

Records from the court -- which was established in 1998 but began trying copyright cases in 2001 -- show an increasing number of copyright and trademark cases was filed over the past three years.

After a slow start in 2001, with only 11 cases, the number of lawsuits filed jumped to 63 cases in 2002 to 84 cases in 2003. The court handled 13 cases in January 2004 alone.

In 2002, giant U.S. software company Microsoft Corp. won two lawsuits against local companies that sold pirated software.

Microsoft was awarded US$4.4 million in the first lawsuit and US$4.7 million in the second.

Besides copyright and trademark cases, the court also handles bankruptcy cases and loan restructuring cases.

As previously reported, experts claim that the court fails to deliver quality rulings on bankruptcy cases.

Lengthy court proceedings as well as ambiguous verdicts were cited as reasons why creditors chose to file bankruptcy petitions with the district court rather than the commercial court.

Consequently, the number of bankruptcy cases filed with the commercial court declined over the last three years.

However, Rahmat said that the court was quick to rule on copyright cases, which had also boosted confidence in the commercial court.

"A verdict is usually reached in less than 30 days," he said, adding that foreign companies were appreciative of this factor.

According to Law No. 19/2002 on copyright and Law No. 15/2001 on trademark rights, a ruling must be reached within 30 days after a case is filed.

The court handed down verdicts on all 11 cases filed in 2001 without substantial delay. Out of 63 cases in 2002, 52 were resolved. In 2003, out of 84 cases, 73 cases were resolved.

An expert in business law, Todung Mulya Lubis, agreed with Rahmat, saying that proceedings were usually fast as most cases were straightforward.

However, he suggested that the government should establish another court with the same function.

"The current court in Central Jakarta will eventually not be enough," he predicted.

ibox

Table

year cases filed cases decided cases won by plaintiff

2001 11 cases 11 cases 7 cases 2002 63 cases 52 cases 35 cases 2003 84 cases 73 cases 47 cases