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.