Legal Certainty on Commercial Court Authority to Examine and Adjudicate Mark Dispute Without Prior Appeal Petition to The Mark Appeal Commission

Abstract

Objective: The Mark Appeal Commission has a role in examining appeal petitions against the rejection of mark registration applications. However, when the Petitioner's mark registration is rejected by the Directorate of Mark and Geographical Indication, the Petitioner immediately files a lawsuit to the Commercial Court by going through the appeal stage at the Mark Appeal Commission, there are 2 (two) verdicts that rejects and grants the lawsuit.   Method: The problem of this research is related to the legal certainty on the commercial court authority to examine and adjudicate mark disputes without a prior appeal petition to the Mark Appeal Commission. The research uses a normative juridical method with qualitative analysis.   Result: The research indicates that the legal certainty on the commercial court authority to examine and adjudicate mark disputes without a prior appeal petition to the Mark Appeal Commission is that an appeal petition at the Mark Appeal Commission is not an obligation or necessity or a formal requirement (procedural law) of filing a lawsuit to the Commercial Court.   Conclusion: The meaning of the phrase “may” is a choice for the Petitioner to use the appeal instrument at the Mark Appeal Commission or not. Since the Directorate of Mark and Geographical Indication from the beginning has rejected the mark registration application, and the instrument of the Mark Appeal Commission is not carried out, then for the sake of legal certainty, only a court order in the form of a court verdict may change the decision of the Directorate of Mark and Geographical Indication.