On November 4, an Indonesian delegation from the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DJKI) and the National Police conducted a benchmarking process with the United States National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) in Virginia, USA.
Matthew Allen, assistant director of Homeland Security Investigations’ Global Trade Investigations Division and head of the IPR Center, welcomed the delegation and invited them to discuss their experiences with intellectual property (IP) infringement.
Indonesia’s plan to involve the FBI in handling IP violations
Matthew also discussed the work that the IPR Center does to safeguard citizens and US businesses from intellectual property theft. He said: “The IPR Center is at the forefront of the United States government in combating intellectual property infringement globally and in enforcing international trade laws.”
The IPR Center approaches its duties in three ways. The first is the investigative technique, which namely identifying, filing charges and dismantling criminal organizations that manufacture and distribute counterfeit goods. The interdiction technique follows, which involves conducting inspections to restrict and prohibit the circulation of counterfeit goods in the United States. Last but not least, the IPR Center’s outreach and training plan, which includes training for local and foreign law enforcement on IP infringement.
Following up on the third technique, the approach has also been used to protect intellectual property in Indonesia. The DJKI continues to work to eliminate IP infringement by providing education, oversight, and legal protection. As evidenced by DJKI’s instruction of traders at ITC Mangga Dua regarding preventing the selling of counterfeit goods last October.
In addition, the DJKI provided capacity-building training for civil investigators (PPNS) to ensure that they have the necessary skills for conducting supervision and enforcing the law. This step was implemented in order to ensure that IP law enforcement in Indonesia is effective and to safeguard businesses, artists, and investors from infringing offenses. According to a report provided by the US Trade Representative, Indonesia is currently on the Priority Watch List (PWL) because it is considered a country with a high degree of IP infringement (USTR).
Anom Wibowo, the Indonesian delegation’s director of investigation and dispute resolution, said that in order to create an effective and efficient IP law, there needed to be sufficient cooperation and synergy between various law enforcement authorities.
For the administration of the PWL status, Indonesia has formed an Operational Task Force (Satgad Ops), which comprises of five institutions with direct responsibility in the field of supervision and enforcement of IP legislation. The DJKI, the National Police-Criminal Investigation Department, the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, the Communications and Information Ministry, and the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency are among these entities.
Anom said: “We think that the formation of the Task Force has been quite effective in its implementation. However, we still need input and comparisons so that Indonesia really has an appropriate system to implement,”
As a result, the benchmarking process with the IPR Center in the United States is critical in establishing a new paradigm for law enforcement that may be implemented domestically. The IPR Center is the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, which brings together 27 law enforcement agencies from the United States and Europe to focus on IP violations.
One of the things Indonesia sought to learn from the IPR Center, according to Anom, was how to organize multiple law enforcement organizations so that they could work together optimally. In addition, the Indonesian delegation negotiated with the IPR Center to promote the PPNS DJKI’s capacity building through training. Anom conculuded: “Earlier we had negotiated to be able to work together to get training to increase the capacity of civil servant investigators,”
The Indonesian delegates also took the opportunity to tour the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, which is one of the law enforcement agencies under the IPR Center’s coordination. This visit was in connection with Indonesia’s attempt to enlist the FBI’s help in dealing with intellectual property infringement.
(Source: thejakartapost.com)
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