Ministry for Justice and Human Rights has recently issued Government Regulation No.1 of 2005 on the Implementation of Law No. 31 of 2001 on Industrial Designs (the “Regulation”). The Regulation contains 54 Articles elaborating procedures of registration, substantive examination, rejection, the granting of industrial design license, transfer of license, cancellation of registration and a public list of industrial design.

Chapter I of the Regulation reiterates the definitions as state under Law No. 31 of 2001 on Industrial Designs (the “Law”).  Chapter II regulates provision concerning the application of Industrial Design. The Regulation require that the application (i) shall be submitted to the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (“Directorate General”) (ii) made in Bahasa Indonesia and shall be accompanied by a physical example or pictures and an elaboration towards the intended industrial design, (iii) a sufficiently stamped or notarized statement from applicant or designer, (iv) specific power of attorney if the application is submitted by a proxy.

After the application is submitted, the Directorate General will notify the applicant(s) in written should they require further explanation. If such case occurred, the applicant will be requested to modify its application. The Director General will later announce all accepted applications through Official News of Industrial Design published by the ministry. During this announcement period, any third parties may submit an objection. When an objection is raised, the examinee from the ministry will conduct through investigation with regards to (i) the novelty nature of the design, and (ii) materials that may be in conflict with prevailing regulations, public policy, religion or social norms. When no objection is found after the expiration of announcement period, a certificate will be issued by the Directorate, enumerating the certificate’s number, title of the industrial design, name, citizenship and address of the holder, registration number, and a signature of the authorized official. The public may obtain a copy of the certificate subject to certain levies as imposed by the prevailing regulation.

The Regulation also governs provision concerning the transfer, cancellation, public list and official news of the Industrial Design. This Regulation has been in effect since 4 January 2005.