What is WIPO Indonesia Trademark Database?

Currently, the services of WIPO Indonesia trademark database is available for enterprises in Indonesia. WIPO (shortened from World Intellectual Property Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) created to promote and protect intellectual property (IP) worldwide in cooperation with countries as well as international organizations.

They have activities and duties to host discussion forums, shape the policies and rules for international IP, provide a global service that registers and protects IP in multiple countries, resolves cross-border IP disputes, helps interconnect IP systems through uniform infrastructure and standards.

WIPO also serves as a database general reference on all IP issues. This includes providing statistics and reports on the status of IP protection or innovation either globally or specific countries.

More About WIPO Indonesia Trademark Database

In order to leverage IP for socio-economic development, WIPO works with governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and individuals. They manage 26 international agreements regarding various intellectual property issues, ranging from the protection of audiovisual works to international patent classification.

In 1979, Indonesia officially joined WIPO in accordance with Presidential Decree Number 24 of 1979 concerning Ratification of the Paris Convention for The Protection of Industrial Property, and the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Checking Trademarks Through Database of WIPO

In Indonesia, all of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are encouraged to register brands for their products at the Directorate General of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (DJKI Kemenkumham).

Registering a trademark is important for a business because it is an essential element in a product, so that MSMEs are able to give protection towards their brand at the beginning. By registering a trademark, the owner of the trademark has the right to prohibit others from imitating, pirating, or copying the mark.

Before a business owner submits a trademark, it is necessary to check the availability. This is done to prevent refusal of trademark registration. There might be a similar trademark which has been previously registered or there is a resemblance to another person’s trademark. This checking can be done by accessing the WIPO Global Brand, which is WIPO's official database covering brands of all WIPO member countries.

There are a few simple steps to do a swift research regarding trademark through the WIPO database:

1. Access the WIPO database site through branddb.wipo.int
2. Click on “Data Coverage”, and search for “DGIP (Indonesia)”
3. Left click on the “Search and Explore this Dataset” part
4. It will redirect the page to a Quick Search, but it is specified for the Indonesia database
5. Type in the brand inside the “Search by brand name…” bar, and hit enter
6. Afterwards it will provide with information regarding brands with those keywords

So, in order for a brand to be recorded in the WIPO database, it should be first registered in the national database and then the WIPO database will be updated. To make it easy for everyone, the organization uses the Madrid system, which means there is only a single procedure for the trademark registration in several territories. Individuals or companies only need one application with one language and paid by one currency. 

Conclusion

So, this is short information regarding the wipo indonesia trademark database. It is an international database that can be used, especially by enterprises in Indonesia to do a prior checking before registering a trademark. Registering a brand is beneficial for business’ assets, however, knowing first-hand whether the brand has been used or not can be highly helpful in the future.