Monjo tackles trademark cases

JAKARTA (JP): John Monjo, an executive of American tobacco company Brown & Williamson, is scheduled to arrive on Friday for a 10-day visit to handle several infringement cases and disputes between his company and local cigarette producers.

Brown & Williamson said in a release on Thursday that one of the cases Monjo would raise in meetings with ministers and the Intellectual Property Rights Office involved what the company alleged as an unlawful use of its Hilton trademark by Sumatra Tobacco Trading Co. in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra.

Monjo, the U.S. ambassador to Indonesia between 1989 and 1992, was quoted as saying that trademark and copyright piracy was still rampant in Indonesia across many industries, including food, pharmaceuticals, electronics, luxury goods, music, video, toys and car parts.

"Unless the government rectifies the situation immediately, Indonesia faces the real threat of reducing its international standing," Monjo pointed out.

He said a satisfactory resolution of infringement cases of intellectual property rights was critical for returning investor confidence in Indonesia.