Patents in Indonesia are regulated under Law No. 13 of 2016 (New Patent Law) which replaced the previous Patent Law (Law No. 14 of 2001). As defined in the New Patent Law, ‘a patent is an exclusive right granted by the state to an inventor for an invention which is novel, and which can be applied in industry’. A patent is granted for a period of 20 (twenty) years as from the filing date whereas a simple patent (patent for one invention) is granted for a period of 10 (ten) years. Patent holders are required to manufacture their products in Indonesia; this is aimed at providing job opportunities or technology transfer.

The New Patent Law provides revised and new additional areas on patents such as:

• Computer Programmes; computer programmes that have instructions, problem-solving features, and technical effects are considered as inventions and therefore can be patented.
• Discoveries of other uses of Patents; a patent shall not be granted for the invention (discovery) of a new use for known existing products or a new form of an existing compound that shows no increase in efficacy or change of chemical structure of the current compound.

Patent Applications

A patent application should be submitted to the Directorate General of Intellectual Property and may be filed for one invention only or several inventions that contribute to the unity of the invention. An invention is considered new if the application is not the same as with any previous disclosures.

The patent application should contain:

• The application form in writing in the Indonesian language;
• Title of the invention;
• Claims contained in the invention;
• Written description and explanation of the invention;
• Drawings and designs of the invention;
• The date, month, and year of application;
• The full name and nationality of the inventor;
• The full address of the applicant and;
• Payment of maintenance fee to the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (this is an annual fee);
• Full name and address of the attorney if the application is filed through an attorney.

Publication and Substantive Examination

If the requirements for the patent application are fulfilled, the Directorate General will publish the application in the official Patent Gazette or on a publication board exclusively provided for such purpose.

The Directorate General may request expert assistance or facilities from other government agencies to conduct a substantive examination. The substantive examination is conducted by qualified patent examiners — the examiner is given a rank and allowance by the Minister of Law and Human Rights in accordance with the prevailing regulations. If the examiner reports deficiencies with the application, the Directorate General will inform the applicant to oppose the report.

The publication will be open to the public and any person may submit a written objection to the relevant patent. The Directorate General of Intellectual Property will then inform the applicant of the patent who will be entitled to submit an explanation regarding the objection to the Directorate General. If the applicant does not provide any clarification or improvements to the application, the Directorate General will withdraw the application.

Authorisation of an Application

The Directorate General is obliged to approve or refuse the patent application no later than 30 (thirty) months from the date of receipt of request. A simple patent is approved no later than 10 (ten) months from the date of receipt of request. If the results of the substantive examination conclude that the application is in-line with the new Patent Law, the Directorate General will issue a Patent Certificate to the applicant.

Rejection of an Application

If the patent application does not coincide with what is regulated in the new Patent Law, the Directorate general shall refuse to issue a Patent Certificate to the applicant.

Global Business Guide Indonesia - 2017

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Indonesia Snapshot

Capital: Jakarta
Population: 259 million (2016)
Currency: Indonesian Rupiah
Nominal GDP: $936 billion USD (IMF, 2016)
GDP Per Capita: $3,620 USD at Current Prices (IMF, 2016)
GDP Growth: 5.0% (2016)
External Debt: 36.80% of GDP (BI, Q2 2016)
Ease of Doing Business: 91/190 (WB, 2017)
Corruption Index: 90/176 (TI, 2016)

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