Indonesian Supreme Court to Rule on Goodyear Trademark

After 10 years of written notices and attempted negotiations, the Indonesian Supreme Court is about to settle a dispute between Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GTRC) and PT Banteng Pratama Rubber. Goodyear contends that Banteng continues to produce bicycle tyres using the Goodyear trademark even though its agreement with GTRC expired in 1993. Banteng even created its own “Goodyear-Luckystone” brand and uses the American conpany’s winged foot logo on its products and letterhead.

The legal wrangling began over a decade ago, and since then the company has written notices and attempted negotiations. Goodyear eventually brought its case to the Jakarta Commercial Court, which decided in August 2004 that GTRC was the legitimate owner of the Goodyear trademark in Indonesia and that Goodyear is a well-known trademark.

However, the court did not issue an injunction against Banteng and therefore Goodyear appealed to the Indonesian Supreme Court to instruct Banteng to stop using the Goodyear trademark without authorisation. The final decision is expected very soon.