Transfiguring Indonesian Patent Law Enforcement by Considering Development of Patent Protection System in the European Union and in the United States (original) (raw)

Contextually, patent granted by the government for inventors is an exclusive right, it can especially be considered as a freedom of inventors in order to be able to restrict others from producing, trading, and/or using their invention. 1 The rapid growth of technology and information increased the need for patent protection. The ideal patent protection will increase the competitiveness of the country, 2 besides, it is given with the intention of rewarding new inventions, incenting innovation 3 and being a stimulus for future inventions. In general, Indonesian Patent Law's content is based on the 'first-to-file' system just like most states in the world, except the United States (before 2013) and the Philippines (prior to 1997). 4 From historical point of view, this law substitutes the old patent law (Patent Law No. 6 of 1989 amended by Law No 13 of 1997 mainly because of the espousal to Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)-Law No. 7 of 1994 proved the true willingness of Indonesia to adopt the basic provisions of Uruguay Round Agreement: TRIPS. 5 In response to the ratification, Indonesian Patent Law affirmed five strategic national efforts, such as: revising previous patent law systems by harmonizing standards regulated under TRIPS, reforming patent management system, improving bilateral and multilateral cooperation, spreading public awareness on economic and social benefit of patents, and providing law enforcement to protect the exclusiveness of patent right. 6 After more than a decade of implementation, current Indonesian Patent Law still has some inefficiencies: low level of pro-activeness toward domestic modest innovations, uncertainty to grant protection for original inventors, and less spirit to