IKEA’s trademark was legally registered for a little known rattan furniture company in Indonesia. The Indonesian company registered its name in 2013, even if IKEA applied for the right to the brand in Indonesia back in 2010, according to International Business Times (IBT).
Because the Swedish furniture company didn’t actively use the trademark in Indonesia for 3 consecutive years, the law allows it to be deleted. Thus, the rights for the trade mark were given to Ratania Khatulistiwa.
As ITB reported, the Supreme Court of Indonesia published the ruling last week. It seems that this ruling was made back in May 2015, but neither IKEA nor the public knew anything about this.
"The decision rendered by the Supreme Court in Indonesia in May 2015 was notified to our local, Indonesia lawyers yesterday [4 February]. We have therefore not yet had the opportunity to analyse the decision. The company however said that it has taken measures to allow it to continue using the IKEA trademark,” reported Inter IKEA Systems BV, a Dutch company that manages IKEA's international franchises.
Still, the ruling doesn’t interfere with IKEA’s operations in Indonesia because it owns the exclusive rights for the term covering other classes.
The original IKEA got its name from the initials of the founder, 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad, the farm where he grew up, Elmtaryd, and Agunnaryd, his hometown in Smaland. At the same time, the Indonesian company says that their name stands for Intan Khatulistiwa Esa Abadi, which refers to palm rattan (which is used to make furniture).
However, the Indonesian Supreme Court did recognize IKEA first coming from Sweden and one of the three judges ruled in favour of Ikea noted the size difference between the two companies.
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