On World IP Day, April 26 2010, key stakeholders of the Indonesian IP community announced the formation of an Indonesian arbitration centre specifically designed to handle intellectual property disputes. The arbitration centre will provide arbitration and mediation services for those with civil intellectual property disputes, which are now handled exclusively by the Commercial Court.
The initiators of the arbitration centre include the recently formed IP Consultants Association (AKHKI), the Indonesian Anti-Counterfeiting Society (MIAP), a former Director-General of Intellectual Property, Ahmad Umar Zen Purba, and the now retired former secretary of the government's IP think tank, Ansori Sinungan.
To mark the event, the Minister of Law and Human Rights was presented with a formal declaration signed by the initiators and other supporters, including the European Chamber of Commerce and the Indonesia Australia Business Council.
The Indonesian Civil Code requires that the parties to a dispute undergo steps to resolve the dispute using alternative dispute resolution, but parties seldom use such mechanisms. It is hoped that the newly formed arbitration centre will be able to provide a credible alternative to the Commercial Court for resolving disputes. While the Commercial Court has made considerable progress in recent years, strict evidential rules which require notarised and legalised documents and sworn translations for foreign evidence act as a significant disincentive for potential litigants. As a result, the majority of cases handled by the Commercial Court relate to trade mark deletion or cancellation and commercial disputes are rarely brought before the Commercial Court.
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| Brett McGuire |
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