The Central Jakarta Commercial Court on May 9th 2023 canceled the SEGOVIA mark (Registration No. IDM0000842429) in the name of Yu Kei Man, a British Citizen (Defendant). This decision ended a trademark cancellation action filed by Kim Soo Jung, a South Korean citizen (Plaintiff), who is the real proprietor of the SEGOVIA mark. The SEGOVIA mark has been registered in various countries and considered as a well-known mark for musical instruments, particularly guitars.

In its decision, the Commercial Court states that the Plaintiff succeeded in proving that the SEGOVIA mark was a mark that had been developed by her parents in South Korea in the 1950s and was registered in many countries, including South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Bahrain, Iran, Israel, Morocco, Oman, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. Unfortunately, the Plaintiff has so far been unable to register the SEGOVIA mark in Indonesia as Yu Kei Man’s identical SEGOVIA had blocked her trademark application in respect of similar goods in class 15.

The Panel of Judges at the Commercial Court accepted Plaintiff’s arguments and evidence showing that the SEGOVIA mark is a well-known and should have been accepted for registration in Indonesia. The judges agreed that Yu Kei Man was in bad faith when applying his application for registration of the SEGOVIA mark in 2019. Furthermore, the Central Jakarta Commercial Court has reached the following verdict:

1.To accept and grant the Plaintiff’s claim in its entirety;

2.To declare that the Plaintiff is the sole owner and the only one who has the right to use the SEGOVIA mark in Indonesia to differentiate the Plaintiff’s products from those produced by other parties;

3.To declare that the Plaintiff’s SEGOVIA mark is a well-known mark in Indonesia;

4.To declare that the SEGOVIA mark filed by the Defendant under Registration No. IDM000842429, Registration Date 06 April 2021, in class 15, is identical in its entirety to the Plaintiff’s well-known SEGOVIA mark;

5.To state that the Defendant was in bad faith when applying his application for the registration of the SEGOVIA mark (Registration No. IDM000842429), Registration Date 06 April 2021, in class as it imitates the Plaintiff’s well-known SEGOVIA mark;

6.To cancel the SEGOVIA trademark (Registration No. IDM000842429), Registration Date 06 April 2021, in class 15 filed by the Defendant with all legal consequences;

7.To order the Clerk of the Central Jakarta Commercial Court to immediately to serve submit a copy of this court decision to the Trademark Office (Directorate of Trademarks and Geographical Indications at the Directorate General of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia), in order to implement this decision in accordance to the Article 91 and 92 of the Law No. 20 of 2016 concerning Trademarks and Geographical Indications;

8.To sentence the Defendant to pay the court fee of IDR 720,000,- (seven hundred and twenty thousand rupiah).

Responding to her victory over the lawsuit, Kim Soo Jung, who for the last few years has been developing her business of manufacturing and distributing various musical instruments under SEGOVIA mark at her factory in Mojokerto, East Java, stated:

“To be honest, it took up to 4 years to decide to bring this case (SEGOVIA trademark) to the court. This is because I am afraid that I would lose this case, considering I am a foreign citizen. Until finally I got information about this law firm from my assistant and was convinced that I could win this case according to my expectations. In handling the case of cancellation of the SEGOVIA trademark that was registered by another party in Indonesia, Pak Donny provided a strategy that won our case. Simply phenomenal from start to finish. Pak Donny was always quick to respond to us either by email or telephone and we appreciate him making this case a matter of priority. He kept me informed throughout the process in detail. Something I really appreciate about him is the fact that he takes a pragmatic approach to the law and doesn’t over complicate things unnecessarily. The entire legal team has been responsive, professional, extremely knowledgeable, kind and “result oriented” throughout our court needs. In this case, the panel of judges granted my lawsuit in its entirety. Without his help, I wouldn’t get the successful results that I got. I would definitely recommend this law firm. Thanks guys!!”

Plaintiff’s Trademark

Finally registered under

Registration No. IDM001132580

Registration Date: 19 October 2023

Defendant’s Trademark

Registration No. IDM000842429

Registration Date: 06 April 2021