Trademark violations rampant in Indonesia
Trademark violations rampant in Indonesia
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Buying branded goods can create a dilemma for the consumer. Some
prefer to purchase the real thing at any cost, while others opt
to buy the next best thing so as to be able to keep up with the
latest trends.
Esther, a customer service officer in a foreign bank, is in
the second category.
"Just like most women, I'm fond of fashion. We always spend
money on fashion and accessories, but within only two months we
are bored with what we have bought," she said over the weekend.
Esther revealed she often bought counterfeit items at the
Mangga Dua shopping center, West Jakarta, with no sense of guilt.
"I just bought a fake DKNY (stands for Donna Karan New York)
wallet for only Rp 250,000 (US$26.8) last February," she proudly
said, adding that the fake wallet suited her budget and was of
good quality.
An original DKNY wallet is sold at over Rp 1 million.
However, Esther claimed she was picky when buying fake items
and avoided the low-quality stuff.
"If I buy a low quality counterfeit item, I'm always worried
that my friends will find out," she said.
With so many customers like Esther in the capital, no wonder
counterfeit goods can easily be found in malls. Leather handbags,
purses, wallets and shoes bearing exclusive brand names like
Louis Vuitton, Prada and Gucci can be yours for only a couple of
hundred thousand rupiah.
Ari, a stall owner in Blok M Plaza, South Jakarta, said that
the counterfeit items sold at his stall were going for between Rp
120,000 (US$12) and Rp 260,000.
"It's a South Korean-made Prada bag. It really looks like the
original one," she boasted.
She admitted that selling fake products was against the law
but she could still freely display them.
"Why should I worry about raids? You can easily find fake
items everywhere," said Ari, who has being running her counter
for more than a year without disturbance from the police.
The lack of law enforcement on copyright was condemned by
Cicilia King, a spokeswoman for PT Bagasi Luks. The company holds
the licenses for French-made Louis Vuitton, and Spanish-made
Loewe and Celine products, which are often targeted by the
counterfeiters.
Low purchasing power on the part of consumers plus a lack of
appreciation of original items were the causes of rampant
counterfeiting in the country, Cicilia said.
She claimed that the fake replicas flooded the market very
quickly after the originals were launched.
"Within only a month, counterfeit copies of our latest
products can be found in the markets," she complained.
Cicilia revealed that her company had done its utmost,
including taking legal action, to crack down on the
counterfeiters, but to no avail.
"It's only effective for a month. After that, the (fake)
products are back in the markets again," she grumbled.
City police spokesman, Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam, confirmed
that the police could not launch raids on stores selling
counterfeit items unless there was a complaint filed by the
licensee.
"We can't just carry out raids at random. The law requires a
prior report of an offense having been committed," he said.
Under the Copyright Law, violators can be sentenced to a
maximum of seven years in jail and/or a Rp 100 million fine.
Brand owners are estimated to suffer annual losses of US$186
million owing to copyright piracy in Indonesia.