IKEA loses rights to use own name in Indonesia

Renown home furnishing store from Sweden IKEA has lost the rights to use its own name in Indonesia after the trademark was owned by a local company.

As reported by The Guardian, Indonesia’s highest court ruled in favour of local rattan furniture company PT Ratania Khatulistiwa which registered its IKEA trademark in December 2013.

The company uses the acronym I.K.E.A which stands for Intan Khatulistiwa Esa Abadi.

The Guardian also reported that the Swedish retailer did not use its trademark actively for three consecutive years for commercial purposes despite registering the trademark in Indonesia in 2010.

This meant that it could be deleted under Indonesia’s trademark law.

The decision was not unamious, said a supreme court spokesperson.

It was reported that one of the three judges argued that the trademark law could not be applied to a company the size of Ikea, which is much bigger than the plaintiff.

The decision is being appealed by IKEA to the supreme court.

IKEA’s only Indonesia outlet is located in Tangerang, Jakarta, which opened its doors in late 2014.