Indonesia admits failure in implementing WTO commitments
Indonesia admits failure in implementing WTO commitments
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government has notified the World
Trade Organization it will be unable to implement the provisions
of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPs) by Jan. 1 as it committed to in 1995.
Director General for Intellectual Property Rights A. Zen Umar
Purba told The Jakarta Post the government and the House of
Representatives were working on reforming three old laws and
three new bills on intellectual property rights (IPR).
"We explained to the WTO the problems we have and are facing
in fulfilling our commitments to TRIPs and I am convinced that
the world organization will understand our position," Purba said.
Moreover, he added, many other developing countries failing to
meet the deadline also asked for extensions on implementing the
TRIPs agreement.
The government is revising three laws regarding copyrights,
patents and trademarks to comply with the TRIPs agreement, and
has proposed to the House bills on industrial designs, layout
designs of integrated circuits and undisclosed information.
However, because the House went to recess immediately
following the initial reading of the three bills last Friday, the
draft legislation will most likely be completed during the next
House session which begins on Jan. 20.
But drafting new laws and amending old ones are not the only
tasks facing the government in its efforts to fulfill its
commitments to TRIPs.
Purba acknowledged that enacting laws is one thing and
enforcing them is something else entirely.
Purba conceded his office had yet to train its staff and law
enforcement agencies to effectively administer and enforce IPR
laws.
"Since intellectual property rights appear to most people as a
highly complicated concept, we also need a nationwide campaign to
build a broader base of public understanding of the importance of
protecting IPRs for our economy and even our daily lives," Purba
said.
As an example, he pointed to the failure by most media to
report the statements made by Minister of Law and Legislation
Yusril Ihza Mahendra when he presented the bills on industrial
designs, layout designs of integrated circuits and undisclosed
information to the House last Friday.
"Almost all media only gave space to the regulation in lieu of
law on the establishment of a human rights court which was
proposed to the House at the same time as the three bills last
week," Purba said.
He reiterated that the protection and enforcement of
intellectual property rights would contribute greatly to the
promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and
dissemination of technology.
"Seen from our national interests, the reform of laws
regarding the protection of intellectual property rights will
also help improve the image and standing of Indonesia as a member
of the international community," Purba added.
He said the United States continued to include Indonesia on
its priority watch list, which groups countries with a very weak
legal system for the protection of intellectual property rights.
Complaints
While the government is preoccupied revising and drafting
bills, many foreign companies are complaining about what they
perceive to be the Directorate General of Intellectual Property
Rights' inability to administer existing laws.
"The directorate general has even been completely out of
patent application forms since three months ago," said James B.
Lumenta, an intellectual property rights consultant with Amroos &
Partners law office.
Making things more complicated and frustrating is that
companies, hard-pressed to meet registration deadlines, are not
allowed to reproduce the forms, Lumenta added.
"Who then will be responsible for losses incurred if assignees
are late in registering their patents only because they cannot
get application forms at the government office," he said,
recounting the frustration of his clients.
He also said the directorate general months ago stopped
publishing pre-examined patent applications for public inspection
and opposition by interested third parties.
"This ignorance may cause industrial companies to waste
investment researching and developing a technology that may have
been developed by others and has been registered at the patent
office," Lumenta said.
In addition, Lumenta said there were more than 500 patent
applications which had been awaiting substantive examinations for
more than three years.
"I don't believe that the existing legal structure, without
any substantial reform, can implement any laws regarding IPR
protection," he said.
Though Indonesia has had patent and trademark laws for
decades, the government has failed to establish patent and
trademark appeals boards, preventing applicants from seeking
redress if their applications are rejected, Lumenta added.(vin)