457 Websites Blocked for Intellectual Property Rights Infringement

Jakarta: The Ministry of Law and Human Rights ("MoLHR") is now vigorously enforcing the laws on intellectual property rights ("IPR") by proposing to block 457 websites to the Ministry of Communication and Information ("MCI") throughout 2022.

"The websites contained content that violates intellectual property rights. The names of these websites have been proposed to the Ministry of Communication and Information to be blocked," said Minister of MoLHR, Mr. Yasonna Laoly, at the 2022 Year-End Reflection event Thursday (February 15, 2022).

The site's blocking was carried out as a form of the Indonesian government's commitment to respect IPR owned by Indonesians or foreigners. The MCI has blocked many contents containing IPR violations, and it is expected to create awareness amongst the people in utilizing the internet.

During the event, Mr. Yasonna Laoly also explained the achievements made by the Directorate General of Intellectual Property ("DGIP"), such as DGIP had completed 85,178 trademark applications, 13 geographical indications applications, 85,545 copyrights applications, 14,811 patents applications, and 2,305 industrial designs applications in 2022.

Currently, IPR Enforcement and legal services are priority for the government of Indonesia, in order to be excluded from the Priority Watch List ("PWL"). Note that Indonesia has been included in the PWL by the United States Trade Representative ("USTR") for many years.

The inclusion of Indonesia in the PWL creates negative image in the international community, since foreigners and/or investors will be of the view that the protection and enforcement of IPR laws need to be improved. In practice, foreign parties usually link investment with the protection of intellectual property rights.

With the government aggressively enforcing the law and improving the legislation system in IPR, Indonesia aims to get out of the PWL next year. (FBK/DCH-su)