Indonesia Eager to Help Brunei with IP

Bandar Seri Begawan, 26 Ramadan 1437/02 July 2016 (MINA) – Indonesia is keen to share its best practices in the development of a national intellectual property (IP) strategy with Brunei in a bid to promote IP awareness and economic growth, a government official said yesterday.

Professor Dr Ahmad M Ramli (pic), Director-General for Intellectual Property Rights at Indonesia’s Ministry of Law and Human Rights, said his country has been developing intellectual property protection for various sectors such as pharmaceuticals and the creative industries, including entertainment, fashion and culinary arts.

IP protection can boost independent businesses and aid in their growth,Professor Ahmad was quoted by bt.com.as saying.

He said when a startup company builds its business by using its own brand and grows its reputation on its own name, it will achieve success at some point.

“However, when the startup company wants to earn a big profit quickly by passing off another party’s brand, I guarantee the business (of the startup company) will fail to grow because the relevant law enforcement officials will chase them and take legal action against them,” he said.

In the pharmaceutical industry, Indonesia has provided intellectual property protection for different vaccine products, he said, noting that these products are well-received in the international arena. To give an example, Indonesia exports their polio vaccines to 136 countries. In addition, 50 per cent of the world’s vaccine products are made in Bandung, West Java, he said.

Payments received from applicants for registering and maintaining intellectual property rights have contributed to the country’s revenue, which is also known as non-tax state revenue, he said.

However, those applicants who represent small and medium enterprises (SMEs), schools and higher educational institutions and research institutions will be given incentives.

These categories can apply for IP protection at zero cost, as a subsidy is provided for them. This incentive began three years ago as part of the country’s efforts to boost economic development from the IP sector, he said.

With this, an SME and a student or lecturer can apply for IP protection for their product or invention free of charge.

The Indonesian official is on a working visit to meet his counterpart in the sultanate as his country will host the 50th ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC) from July 19-22 on the resort island of Bali, where Brunei will be chairing the meeting.

Founded in 1996, AWGIPC, which is composed of the IP offices of the 10 ASEAN member states, is a sectoral group responsible for IP issues in the region. Its establishment aims to transform ASEAN into an innovative and competitive region through the use of intellectual property for their nationals and ensuring that the region remains an active player in the international IP community. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)