In Indonesia, all unpaid patent annuities for abandoned patents under the previous patent law are considered as debts. They should be paid by the patent holder as debtor or the proceedings of new patent applications filed by the same patent holder will the suspended by the Indonesian Patent Office (IPO).
If you have such debts and have not yet paid them, you may wish to consider the following scheme that has been introduced by the Indonesian Government to allow for payment of these debts with a substantial discount.
In February 2021, the Indonesian Ministry of Finance approved a crash program mechanism, which aims to relieve debtors during this Covid-19 pandemic. The debtor may settle their debt of annuities by filing a request for the crash program with Kantor Pelayanan Kekayaan Negara dan Lelang (KPKNL), the Indonesian State Assets and Auction Service Office. This mechanism has been in effect since February 2021 and will run until 1 December 2021.
If the debtor’s request is approved by KPKNL, the following deductions will be obtained:
• 60% discount of the remaining principal debts, and
• 100% discount of interest, penalty, and other fees/charges.
Additional deductions will be provided by KPKNL if the debtor settles their debt within the stated periods below:
• Until the end of June 2021: an additional 50% deduction from 40% of the remaining principal debt after the initial deduction,
• Between July 2021 to September 2021: an additional 30% deduction from 40% of the remaining principal debt after the initial deduction, and
• Between October 2021 and 20 December 2021*: an additional 20% deduction from 40% of the remaining principal debt after the initial deduction.
*The debtor must settle the debt of their annuities within 1 month, at the latest, from the date of their approval for the crash program from KPKNL. If the request is filed on 1 December 2021, the debt should be settled by 20 December 2021 at the latest.
At present, KPKNL does not provide information on remaining debt of annuities. A Power of Attorney can be submitted through our associated firm in Indonesia to obtain information on that, on payment of a fee.
To settle the debt of patent annuities under the crash program, the following steps should be taken:
1. The patent holder must provide our associate firm with the patent number(s) and the amount of debt of annuity. If the patent holder is not aware of the information relating to their debt of annuity, a Power of Attorney can be submitted through them to request for this data from KPKNL.
2. To pay the debt of annuities under the crash program to KPKNL, the following documents are required:
- A copy of the patent holder identity card/company registration certificate;
- A letter requesting to participate in the crash program for each patent;
- A statement indicating that the patent holder has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic for each patent;
- A Power of Attorney to pay the debt of annuity under the crash program for each patent.
Should you have any questions regarding this crash program by KPKNL or information on debt of annuities in Indonesia, please contact our team at mail@marks-clerk.com.sg.
