Collaboration between Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) and Swiss Cham Indonesia to Tackle the Rise of Counterfeit Products
Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Jakarta - In the current era of globalization, increasingly advanced digital developments have provided convenience and comfort in meeting basic human needs. One of them is changing people's habits from offline shopping to online. However, the increasing number of online transactions is directly proportional to the massive circulation of fake products on e-commerce platforms.
As a form of law enforcement in eradicating counterfeit goods, especially violations of intellectual property (IP) products in Indonesia, the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia is collaborating with the Swiss-Indonesia Chamber of Commerce (SwissCham Indonesia).
Director for Investigations and Dispute Settlement of Intellectual Property, Brigjen Pol Anom Wibowo, welcomed dialogues with businesses to share knowledge and experiences with the IP Task Force.
"DGIP is highly committed to protecting Indonesia's intellectual property by forming a National IP Task Force, which was initially formed with five agencies in 2021," said the Director of Investigation and Dispute Resolution, Anom Wibowo, in his remarks at the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with the theme "Value of Innovation: Protecting IP of Lifesaving and Lifestyle Investment in the Era of Globalization" which was held at the Oemar Seno Adji Hall on Tuesday, 19 September 2023.
At the initial formation, five agencies members of the IP Task Force are:
1. Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) of the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia (Polri),
2. Directorate General of Customs and Excise - Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia,
3. Ministry of Communication and Information Technology,
4. Drug and Food Control Agency (BPOM).
In its development, five task force members were added, including the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Attorney General's Office.
"Aside from aiming to protect Indonesia from the rise of counterfeit products, the National IP Task Force will also overcome the challenge of Indonesia in exiting the Priority Watch List (PWL) status, which will endanger Indonesia's reputation in the eyes of foreign investors," added Anom.
In line with this, Philippe Strub, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Switzerland in Indonesia, supports the enforcement of IP protection in Indonesia.
"Switzerland is a country synonymous with intellectual property, so we value individual creative ideas as intangible assets that must be protected," said Phillippe.
For the past 12 years, Switzerland has been ranked first in the Global Innovation Index published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Therefore, the Swiss community in Indonesia supports the IP Task Force led by DGIP to enhance synergy between government agencies on IP protection and law enforcement in Indonesia.
On the same occasion, Khalid Ibrahim, Head of the Ease of Doing Business Sector Group at Swiss Cham Indonesia and President Director of Novartis Indonesia, also congratulated and commended the establishment of the National Intellectual Property Task Force.
"Congratulations on the establishment of the National IP Task Force, which has committed to enforcing the law on IP violations. We, SwissCham Indonesia, will also contribute to protecting IP in Indonesia together with other stakeholders," said Khalid.
The insightful discussion on protecting consumers from counterfeit products was participated by the Chairman of SwissCham Indonesia, Dr. Henry Chia.
The productive engagement with other SwissCham members during the discussion succeeded the event, as it was moderated by Edouard Helfand, Deputy of SwissCham Indonesia's Ease of Doing Business Sectoral Group and Managing Director of PT Integrity Asia, together with speakers; Sahat Sagala, Head of Technical Team I of the Directorate of Drug Investigation and Food of BPOM, Pankaj Aseri, Novartis Global Security Anti Falsified Medicine South East Asia and India, and Sally Zulmadjdi, Legal and Compliance Director of Nestlé Indonesia.
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Heartfelt thank you from SwissCham Indonesia to DGIP and other agencies BPOM, National Police, Attorney General's Office, the Ministry of Health, the Presidential Office, and esteemed members of SwissCham Indonesia for sharing valuable insights and feedback.
We hope the event serves as a stepping stone for further cooperation and dialogues between the IP Task Force and SwissCham Indonesia.