Indonesian Domain Name Registration

Trademark-Based Indonesian Domain Name Registration

Registering a trademark as a domain name in Indonesia is an important step for businesses and individuals who want to protect their brand and establish a strong online presence. In this article, we will provide an overview of registering a trademark as a domain name in Indonesia.

We will also discuss how to enforce trademark owner rights when someone who has no legitimate interest or rights for a trademark or has bad faith, registers a domain name which is identical or confusingly similar to a registered trademark.

Let’s go dive in!

What is Domain Name Under Indonesian Practice?

The definition of a Domain Name can be found in Article 1 number 20 of Law Number 19 of 2016 concerning Amendments to Law No.11/2008 concerning Electronic Information and Transactions.

Domain Name is the internet address of state administrators, persons, business entities and/or the public, which can be used in communicating via the internet, in the form of a code or arrangement of characters that is unique to indicate a particular location on the internet.

Currently, dot ID (.id) is the country-code Top Level Domain Name (ccTLD) for Indonesia pursuant to the ISO-3166-1 list of country codes issued by IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) for ID – Indonesia.

Typical dot ID domain names are for example pandi.id or pwplaw.co.id

Why it is important to register a domain name in Indonesia?

a. Domain Name is an Address

As an “address”, a domain name allows people to find you, your business or your organisation in digital space despite being simply an electronic address.

If you run a very successful restaurant business in a certain location in Jakarta, you would want customers to come and find your restaurant at the correct address where your business is actually located.

A domain name is your “digital address” on the internet (e.g. www.google.com) in the form of a human-readable version of an IP address, or Internet Protocol address, which is a unique numerical address assigned to each device connected to the internet or a local network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication(e.g. “108.177.122.139”). 

It is not always easy to remember and input a numerical IP Address for simply visiting a website. Instead, internet users can now just type in the easy-to-remember “name” which is a domain name and go straight to the website they want to visit. 

Since a domain name can only bring users to one particular website, there can never be an identical domain “name” or “address” for more than one website. A domain name is a unique reference (address) to a particular location on the internet.

b. Domain Name is a Name

As a name, a domain name represents an “Internet name” of a person, a business, a company, a brand, an organisation or even just a random idea or some keywords or generic words. Whatever the reasons for someone using a domain name, the registrant (someone who registers a domain name) will be very selective in choosing the domain name for their website because it relates to the purpose of building their website with that domain name. So, selecting a domain name is a very crucial stage in website development.

An ”address” and a “name” become so important when you think that the accuracy of this information determines if the target audience of your website can easily find you on the internet or if they are led to the wrong destination.

c. Domain Name Registration is Given on a First-Come-First-Served Basis

Domain Name is always unique. Once a particular domain name has been registered somewhere, there will be no second opportunity to register the same domain name anywhere in the world (unless of course, the domain name lapses without being renewed and becomes available again for the public to buy). 

If you believe that a domain name is very important for you, your organisation or your business, you cannot afford to not register your dot ID domain name at the earliest possible opportunity.

Registering .ID Domain Name for Trademark Registration

What domain name has to do with trademarks? Well, first and foremost, domain names consist of names, words, and some alpha-numeric characters, which could represent the brands or trademarks that have been registered in Indonesia or elsewhere.

Trademark owners who actively use their trademarks in trade are most likely to provide information or even run online stores for their goods and/or services through their websites which require registration of domain names. This is a part of their marketing, branding and public relations strategies and the best option to select a domain name is using their brand or trademark since it is what easily comes into the mind of their customers.

So, now we understand that having a domain name is directly related to the use of a trademark which has been registered in Indonesia. Especially these days, when consumers turn more and more from conventional shopping to electronic transactions. 

The Legal Basis for Registering Domain Name for Trademark in Indonesia

  • Law No.11/2008 on Information and Electronic Transactions as amended by Law No.19/2016 on Amendments to Law No.11/2008 on Information and Electronic Transactions;
  • Law No. 20 /2016 on Trademarks and Geographical Indications;
  • Regulation of the Minister of Communications and Informatics No. 23/2013 on the Management of Domain Names.

Law No.11/2008 defines clearly what is a domain name under Indonesian practice as mentioned at the beginning of this article.

Law No. 20/2016 as we know defines what is a trademark and how it is used to distinguish goods and/or services from one source to another.

Regulation of the Minister of Communications and Informatics No. 23/2013 regulates the management, registration, use, transfer, requirements and procedures for establishing domain name administrator.

Under the above Regulation, the administration of Indonesian domain names involves the Registry of Domain Name, the Registrar of Domain Name, and the Registrant of Domain Name.

The Registry of Domain Name is the Administrator of the Domain Name Electronic System in Indonesia. 

On June 29, 2007, the government through the Indonesian Ministry of Communications and Informatics officially assigned the Indonesian domain administration to PANDI. The assignment is written in the .id Domain Administration Assignment Note no. BA-343 / DJAT / MKOMINFO / 6/2007 from the Directorate General of Telematics Application.

PANDI is a non-profit organization legally incorporated as an association consisting of individuals from the Indonesian internet multi-stakeholders. PANDI membership reflects the representation of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, academics, and business people. 

Under the Decision of the Minister of Communications and Informatics No. 806/2014, Pengola Nama Domain Indonesia (PANDI) was given tasks and responsibilities by the Ministry as the Indonesian Top Level Domain Name Administrator.

The Registrar of Domain Name is individuals, business entities, and the general public who provide professional domain name registration services for users. Some of the Official Registrars of Domain Name in Indonesia are among others Digital Registra (RumahWeb), CBN Registrar, BizNet, RadNet, IDN, IndoReg, MerekMu, DewaBiz, etc. The Registrars are entitled to collect registration and renewal fees from users who register domain names through them.

The Registrant is the User of the Domain Name for their website. They register the domain name through one of the Official Registrars and pay the registration and annual fees for the services provided by the Registrar.

Many domain name registrants are trademark or brand owners who run websites for their companies, organisations, products and services.

Registration of domain names shall be based on good faith, shall not create unfair competition or infringe other people’s rights, and shall not contravene the existing laws and regulations.

It is compulsory for government bodies, state-owned companies and institutions to use Indonesian country code top-level domain names for their websites.

Indonesian companies, organisations or institutions shall also prioritise the use of .ID domain names and its variations for their website. The same goes for foreign companies whose physical and/or digital presence is in Indonesia.

Owners of international trademarks who have registered their trademarks in Indonesia are entitled to register, use and take advantage of Indonesian domain names for their trademarks (Article 40 of Regulation the Minister of Communications and Informatics No. 23/2013 on the Management of Domain Names).

The registration by foreign entities can only be made through Indonesian legal bodies by means of power of attorney, copies of the trademark registrations, and Personal ID Card/Passport.

The following are Indonesian main domain names which are available for registration:

  • ID (for general purpose)
  • CO.ID (for companies)
  • SCH.ID (for schools)
  • OR.ID (for organisation)
  • MY.ID (for individuals)
  • AC.ID (for academic or higher education institutions)
  • WEB.ID (for general-purpose websites)
  • BIZ.ID (for businesses)
  • etc (options may vary from one registrar to another)

Domain name registration is valid for one year and renewable for each additional year.

Domain name registration does give ownership or “property” to the registration like a trademark. The registrant of a domain name can only use the internet address as long as they pay the “registration fee” which is more like a rent fee for at least one year. If they don’t pay, the domain name will enter a grace period before they become available for the public again.

Registrant can transfer their domain name to another party or change the Registrar of their domain.

How to Enforce Your Rights to Reclaim Your Domain Name

When you are unable to register a domain name for your registered trademark because somebody else has registered it, you may have become a victim of cybersquatting.

Black’s Law Dictionary 9th Edition defines “Cybersquatting” as follows:

Cybersquatting is the act of reserving a domain name on the Internet, especially a name that would be associated with a company’s trademark, and then seeking to profit by selling or licensing the name to the company that has an interest in being identified with it.

Putting it simply, someone registers your trademark as a domain name which prevents you from registering the domain name yourself. That someone is a cybersquatter.

Sometimes, it is probably not cybersquatting, but someone who has no legal rights or legitimate interest in a particular domain name which is identical or confusingly similar to a registered trademark belonging to someone else registers that trademark in bad faith for the purpose of gaining profits and/or destroying trademark owner’s reputation in commerce.

If this happens to you for the Indonesian domain name, you have two options: first, approach the cybersquatter to amicably transfer the domain name to you; or if it fails, you may consider resolving the dispute through a mediation procedure or filing a complaint with PANDI as the Registry for Domain Names in Indonesia.

Domain Name Dispute Settlement Policy Version 7.0 issued by PANDI provides an opportunity for parties who feel aggrieved over the registration/use of Domain Names, a fast, efficient, and cheap alternative-based settlement of dispute resolution, without going through a litigation process in Court which is often time-consuming, complicated and expensive.

In addition to accommodating the principles contained in the WIPO Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy adopted by ICANN (The Policy 1999 and The Rule 2009), this Policy is also the implementation of PANDI’s authority to resolve Domain Name disputes as stipulated in Law no. 11/2008 regarding ITE.

For trademark-based domain-name disputes, the Complaint must indicate any or all of the following three elements as stipulated in PANDI’s Policy for Domain Name Dispute Resolution or KPPND (Kebijakan Penyelesaian Perselisihan Nama Domain).

  1. the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and 
  2. the domain name holder has no legal rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and 
  3. the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith

The bad faith motive in registering a domain name includes but is not limited to:

  • preventing the owner of the registered trademark to use the domain name
  • disturbing or destructing the business activity of the competitor, in particular, the trademark owner’s business
  • attracting customers to a website which does not belong to the trademark owner, in order to unlawfully gain profits from customers’ visit
  • registering a domain name only for the purpose of selling, leasing, or transferring the domain name to a trademark owner or to their competitors

Most types of trademark-based domain-name disputes shall be resolved by mediation or arbitration before a registry cancels, suspends, or transfers a domain name.

Takeaways

Domain Name becomes important especially when it correlates with the use of a registered trademark in the cyberspace or internet. Just like a trademark, the domain name has “distinguishing power” to lead internet users to the correct address of its true and legitimate owner instead of to the wrong one. A lot of domain names reflect or represent the registered trademark or brand because such “name” can easily be remembered in the mind of the customers.

When a trademark owner registers their mark in Indonesia, they are entitled to register a domain name based on their trademark registration for the purpose of using their trademark in electronic transactions and on the internet.

Trademark-based domain-name disputes of Indonesian Domain Names are resolved through the mediation or arbitration of PANDI as the Registry of Domain Names in Indonesia in accordance with the WIPO Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy adopted by ICANN (The Policy 1999 and The Rule 2009) and PANDI’s Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy or KPPND (Kebijakan Penyelesaian Perselisihan Nama Domain PANDI).

If you need assistance in registering .ID domain names for your trademark registration or in resolving domain name disputes in Indonesia, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Featured Image By Growtika on Unsplash

Articles

1 2