After going through a trial period of 4 (four) months since October 2018, Medan District Court on February 21st 2019 finally sentenced Dedi Rori Purba to prison and a cumulative fine for infringing a registered trademark owned by others.
Based on witness testimonies, evidence, and the confession of the Accused at the trial, the Panel of Judges of the Medan District Court found that Dodi Rori Purba was guilty for violating the registered OCTOPUSS trademark owned by PT. Okta Pilar Abadi under Registration No. IDM000415395.
The unauthorized use of his OCTOPUS mark by the Accused which is similar to the registered OCTOPUSS mark owned by PT. Okta Pilar Abadi for similar services breached Article 100 Paragraph (2) of the Law No. 20 of 2016 on Trademarks and Geographical Indications. This illegal use is detrimental to PT. Okta Pilar Abadi as the proprietor of the OCTOPUSS trademark. The Judges therefore decided as follows:
JUDGE
1. States that the Defendant Dedi Rori Purba has been legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing the crime “Without the right to use a registered mark belonging to another person.”
2. Imposing a prison sentence on the Defendant for 6 (six) months and a fine of Rp. 5,000,000.00 (five million rupiah) with the provision that if the fine is not paid it will be replaced by imprisonment for 3 (three) months;
3. Order that the sentence imposed does not need to be served, unless at a later date the Judge decides otherwise if the Defendant commits a criminal act before the end of the 1 (one) year probationary sentence;
4. State evidence in the form of:
– 2 (two) photocopies of the trademark certificate of the Republic of Indonesia Ministry of Law and Human Rights signed by the Director General of Intellectual Property Rights u.b. Brand Director (Bambang Iriana Djajaatmadja, S.H., LL.M.) authenticated by the Directorate of Brands and Geographical Indications;
– 1 (one) photocopy of the Deed of Determination of the Minutes of PT Meeting. Okta Pilar Abadi Number: 01 April 3 2014 signed by Notary and PPAT Etic Srimartini, S.H., Mkn authenticated by Bandung City Notary A.N. Sulaiman Sihotang S.H.
Remain attached to the case dossier.
– 1 (one) OCTOPUS Brand pamphlet located at Jalan Captain Muslim Megacom Complex Blok D-7 No. 10 Dwikora Medan, Helvetia, Medan City.
– 1 (one) mobile printer and charger.
are confiscated to be destroyed
5. To charge the Accused to pay for the court fees of IDR 5,000.00 (five thousand Indonesian rupiah).
Commenting on the decision of the Medan District Court in this criminal case, advocate Donny A. Sheyoputra as legal counsel for PT. Okta Pilar Abadi and the Reporting Witness stated:
“Even though the criminal sanctions imposed by the Panel of Judges in this case are relatively low, we still appreciate this decision because the trademark infringement as charged by the Public Prosecutor was legally and convincingly proven. Hopefully this court decision would provide a deterrent effect for the Accused and a lesson for anyone else that they should not infringe any trademark rights owned by others. “Trademark infringement does not only violate the rights of the proprietor, but also creates negative impacts for Indonesia, especially in the eyes of the international communities who consider intellectual property protection to be important matters in the era of globalization and free trade.”
During the trial, M. Herman (witness), who was an employee of PT. Okta Pilar Abadi stated that the use of the OCTOPUS mark (with one letter S) by the Accused which is similar to the OCTOPUSS mark (with two S letters) was of course detrimental to the company where he worked for. As the mark was illegally use for identical services, namely spa, it can be misinterpreted by other parties who associate that the spa managed by the Accused is a branch or part of his company. The brand image of his company was also tarnished because the Accused, in his online advertisement, shows photos of female therapist and this can be badly misinterpreted by public.
Similar to Herman’s testimony in the court, Donny A. Sheyoputra also states that his client, PT. Okta Pilar Abadi, objected to the way of the Accused promoting his business in a social media platform using an account called ‘Octopus’. This account provided various photos of female therapists. It was a detrimental to the image of his client who then gave him a Power of Attorney to file complaint report to the North Sumatra Regional Police against the Accused for infringing its trademark rights and tarnishing its brand image.
“Our client has actually opened the door for the Accused to resolve this issue amicably in order to create restorative justice, but unfortunately there is no common ground between our client and him. As no agreement could be reached, we have no other choice. “The Accused must accept all consequences of his crime by accepting criminal sanctions imposed by Medan District Court,” concluded Donny A. Sheyoputra.
As the Accused accepted the court decision and did not file any appeal to North Sumatra Hight Court, the decision issued by Medan District Court has now been final and binding.
