Gen Halilintar files lawsuit over rejected trademark registration

The Gen Halilintar family through the family head Halilintar Anofial Asmid filed a lawsuit with the Trademark Appeal Commission (KBM) over the rejection of the registration for the trademark Gen Halilintar.

The lawsuit was submitted to the Commercial Court at the Central Jakarta District Court on 4 August with case number 75/Pdt.Sus-HKI/Merek/2022/PN Niaga.Jkt.Pst. The first trial was held on 15 and 22 August with the agenda of summoning the defendant.

The family first submitted the trademark application in 2018. The registration was rejected because the brand Gen Halilintar had been registered by another party, namely Soka Cipta Niaga, in 2017 and was granted by the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DJKI).

The registration by the Gen Halilintar family is intended for class 25 goods, the same as Soka Cipta Niaga’s trademark. The trademark registration of the Halilintar family was rejected because it has similarities in principle with a registered trademark owned by Soka Cipta Niaga. 

As reported by Kompas, Acting Director General of Intellectual Property Razilu explained, "The Gen Halilintar brand was already listed by Soka in 2017. Then, (the family) Gen Halilintar submitted it in 2018."

"Based on the principle, whoever proposes first gets it. In the end, it was rejected on the basis of equality in principle by the DJKI," he added.

The principle described by Razilu is known as "first to file" which is recognised not only by the Indonesian legal system, but also by most countries in the world. Based on this principle, whoever registers a mark first and fulfills the requirements stipulated by law will obtain the mark.

The weakness of this system is what was experienced by the Gen Halilintar family or other parties, where their registration is rejected because another party has registered first.

Prior to filing the lawsuit, the Gen Halilintar family had submitted other legal remedies, such as responses and appeals against the rejection of the trademark registration.

However, the family's appeal was rejected by the KBM and the decision strengthened the previous rejection (response).

"He (Halilintar Anofial Asmid) then filed an appeal. The process is that after we reject a registration, there are other legal remedies. He appealed, but was rejected as well. (The ruling) strengthens the DJKI’s decision. Now he is taking the matter to court," Razilu explained. 

Razilu said the lawsuit process will take a long time, because it is carried out in court. "So just wait, it is possible that this process will still take a relatively long time to get a settlement. The matter is already in court. But the owner, Soka, has the right to file an appeal to the Supreme Court; there is a further process," he said.

In their lawsuit, the Gen Halilintar family asked the court to cancel KBM decision No. 375/KBM/HKI/2020 dated 8 September 2020. They also asked the court to order the DJKI to accept the registration of the family’s mark (agenda number D002018027834), issue a certificate of the mark and charge court fees to the defendant.

The head of the Gen Halilintar family remained tight-lipped about the matter; only his attorney, Brahmono made a statement.

“My client (does it) in order to maintain the brand and that is also regulated by law. The point is that our client wants to maintain their brand, it’s in the process. It’s true that the DJKI rejected," he explained.