On the web, the mobile, and beyond, it's business as usual.
Tech companies earn their money from providing online services, offering them to provide convenience to users. But money can also be made by suing others, especially when it involves the use of others' brand or trademarked names.
GoTo is a merger between Indonesian decacorn ride-hailing service Gojek with the Indonesian e-commerce titan Tokopedia, that became to realization in May 2021.
GoTo is meant to give the two companies an upper hand when it comes to the conquest of the local ecosystem, particularly against Grab and some other tech companies conducting business in the same market as theirs.
The thing is, the titan GoTo is being sued by PT Terbit Financial Technology, a lesser known tech company, for using the name that has been previously registered in the Directorate General of Intellectual Property of Indonesia Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
Because of that, the GoTo Group needed to prove that the company does have patents related to the lawsuit over a trademark dispute filed by PT Terbit Financial Technology.
It it cannot prove that it has the rights, GoTo must pay a hefty Rp2.08 trillion ($140 million) and required to change its group name immediately.
The lawsuit was registered on November 2, 2021.
"The defendants are Tokopedia and Gojek, as well as their four CEOs (GoTo CEO Andre Soelistyo, President Patrick Cao, Gojek CEO Kevin Aluwi, and Tokopedia CEO William Tanuwijaya)," said PT Terbit Financial Technology's legal representative Alfons Loemau.
In response, GoTo Group Corporate Affairs Astrid Kusumawardhani said that GoTo has the rights to use the GoTo brand as it should.
"(This is) in accordance with data available at the Directorate General of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, GoTo has been registered in several brand classes, namely class 9 (software, mobile apps), class 36 (financial services) and class 39 (transportation/logistics). )," said Astrid.
She also said that the group has officially registered the GoTo name with the authorities, but regardless, it is respecting all legal process in the lawsuit.
According to a local media report, Gojek and Tokopedia registered GoTo with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights on October 27, 2021.
The start date of the coverage is March 5, 2021 and the end date of the cover is March 5, 2031.
Meanwhile, PT Terbit Financial Technology registered GOTO as the name of its computer software application, issued on March 2020.
According to Alfons, his client has documents proving exclusive ownership of the brand, which are valid until 2030.
"The start date of protection for this mark is 10 March 2020 and the end of protection is 10 March 2030," the report added.
In the lawsuit, PT Terbit Financial Technology, the plaintiff, has requested the Central Jakarta Commercial Court to grant a number of its claims, which include: declaring the plaintiff as the sole owner and legal right holder of the registered mark GOTO and all its variations; and stating that the "GOTO," "goto," and "goto financial" brands have similarities with the plaintiff’s "GOTO" brand.
PT Terbit Financial Technology also requested the court to instruct Gojek and Tokopedia to stop the use of the "GOTO" brand and trademark or any its variations thereof, and to punish "the Defendants jointly and severally paying forced money of Rp. 1,000,000,000 (one billion rupiah) to the Plaintiff for every day of delay in carrying out the decision on this case,” the plaintiff said.
Regardless the matter, or whether or not GoTo is abusing its power, both Gojek and Tokopedia are dealing with dispute nonetheless.
The group's legal counsel said that the two companies would firmly take legal action against PT Terbit Financial Technology and any party who has bad intentions against them.
That, "in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations to ensure that our clients' businesses can run and continue to earn benefits for millions of people, families, and MSMEs in Indonesia," the legal representative said.
“We are exploring the issue,” said GoTo's Corporate Affairs Astrid Kusumawardhani.
She also added that GoTo always complies with applicable regulations in Indonesia, and respects the ongoing legal process.
Adding that, the company will also comply with the summons from the court for the case.
"(We) are ready to prove the right to use and exploit our marks in court," she said.
In another case, Gojek is also in a lawsuit regarding its ride-hailing business. A man named Hasan Azhari filed a lawsuit and asked the court to punish Gojek by paying him royalties amounting to Rp24.9 trillion as well as a Rp10 trillion compensation. Hasan claims ownership over the idea of a similar online ride-hailing service which he invented before Gojek was founded by Nadiem Makarim.
In detail, he said that in 2008-2011, he created a business model in which people could order his ride-hailing service through the internet by sending him messages. Hasan said that he promoted his services through a blog and social media Facebook called Ojek Bintaroonline.
Hasan's attorney Rochmani claimed that Hasan had a copyright for this, issued in December 2008.
The case was filed in December 2021.
In response, Gojek Chief Corporate Affairs Nila Marita said that the claim is unfounded.
"Drawing from our initial observations, we find that the claim is unfounded. Gojek always runs its business in accordance with the existing law,” she said.
Historically, Indonesia's legal system has shown the tendency to side with whoever first registers a name or a brand, regardless of the stature of the firms involved in the disputes.
However, it should also be noted that copyright protection system does not protect ideas. It doesn't matter who came up with the idea first, as long as it is fixed in a tangible form, then the person or entity who fixed the idea first shall be granted the protection.
