New ministerial regulation accelerates trademark substantive examination period
Jakarta – Indonesia’s new Ministerial Regulation Number 5 of 2026 accelerates the substantive examination period for trademark registration to 30 days, extending to a maximum of 90 calendar days should rejection recommendations be issued. The previous regulation permitted substantive examination periods of up to 150 days.
Hermansyah Siregar, Director General of Intellectual Property at the Ministry of Law, stated during a ministry press conference confirmed in Jakarta on Tuesday that the government is optimising the examination system to be more concise. “The registration process through to the issuance of an integrated digital certificate is now entirely electronic to ensure transparency and legal certainty for the public,” he said.
The official certificate extraction service procedure must now be completed within one working day, substantially shorter than the previous procedure requiring up to seven days.
The Ministerial Regulation Number 5 of 2026, effective from 23 February 2026, replaces the previous Ministerial Regulation on Law and Human Rights Number 67 of 2016. The new regulation aims to reduce bureaucratic obstacles, support the digitalization of all intellectual property protection processes, and support the growth of micro and small enterprises (UMKs) in Indonesia.
Hermansyah explained that the new regulation also impacts trademark registration application timelines. Fifteen working days are required to conduct formal examination following trademark registration application submission. If documents are declared complete, the application is announced for two months, allowing interested parties to file objections.
Subsequently, substantive trademark examination is conducted to assess the possibility of similarity with other marks. “If no comparable marks are found or if the applicant’s argument against a rejection recommendation is accepted, the mark is approved and a certificate is issued. Otherwise, it is rejected,” Hermansyah said.
The new regulation includes trademark protection access with special rates. Documents such as risk-based Business Identification Numbers (NIB), Limited Liability Company (PT) certificates for individuals, and Merah Putih cooperative legal body approval documents now qualify for trademark protection access at special rates.
A critical point concerns the prohibition of marks containing functionally designed forms to prevent technical product monopolisation by a single party. The new provisions also require applicants to attach recordings, notation, or sonograms in sound trademark registration applications.
“Additionally, the state provides guarantees for applicants affected by force majeure through a mechanism extending time to complete administrative documentation,” stated Fajar. He noted that administrative standardisation is strengthened through expanded applicant identification documents, now including Limited Stay Permit Cards (KITAS), Permanent Stay Permit Cards (KITAP), and Child Identity Cards (KIA).
In rejection recommendation proceedings, applicants are given 30 working days to provide electronic responses, which will subsequently be re-examined systematically through the trademark examiner’s response examination mechanism. The implementation of the new trademark examination regulation is expected to support entrepreneurs in expanding their businesses without the burden of administrative complexity.