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Ikea loses right to own trademark in Indonesia

An Indonesian furniture-maker has won exclusive rights to the Ikea trademark in the sprawling island nation of 250m people.

Published: 5 February 2016 14:37 CET
Ikea loses right to own trademark in Indonesia
What four yellow letters can Ikea put up at its store outside Jakarta. Photo: Flickr/BxHxTxCx
The ruling could force the Swedish furniture giant to come up with a new name to put outside its giant Tangerang store, near the capital, Jakarta. 
 
Indonesian company Ratania Khatulistiwa applied to register the Ikea trademark in December 2013, long after the Swedish giant applied for the right to the brand back in 2010. 
 
But the Indonesian Supreme Court on Thursday published a decision on the case on its website, ruling that as the Swedish company had not actively used the trademark in Indonesia for three consecutive years, it could be deleted, with the rights passed over to the Indonesian firm. 
 
The Indonesian company claims that Ikea stands for ‘Intan Khatulistiwa Esa Abadi’, a reference to rattan, an Indonesian palm used to make furniture. 
 
It claims that any similarity to the Swedish Ikea, which combines the initials of founder Ingvar Kamprad, with Elmtaryd, the farm where he grew up, and Agunnaryd, his hometown, is simply coincidental. 
 
The Indonesian company waited until Ikea had begun construction of its first megastore in Indonesia, in mid-2014, before bringing its case to the Jakarta district court, which ruled in favour of the Indonesian company that September.
 
Ikea then appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which made its ruling in May last year but did not communicate its ruling either to the Swedish company or to the wider public. 
 
Inter IKEA Systems B.V, a Dutch company which manages Ikea's international franchises, said on Friday that it had not yet had time to analyse the decision.  
 
“The decision rendered by the Supreme Court in Indonesia in May 2015 was notified to our local, Indonesian, lawyers yesterday. We have therefore not yet had the opportunity to analyse the decision,” it told The Local. 
 
It said that it had taken measures to allow it to continue using the trademark. 
 
“Despite the Supreme Court’s decision, Inter IKEA Systems B.V. has provided for continued ownership of the IKEA trademark rights in Indonesia” it said. “This means that the Indonesian IKEA franchisee has and will be able to continue the IKEA operations uninterruptedly regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision.” 
 

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WEATHER

Danish Ikea store shelters staff and customers overnight during snowstorm

Heavy snowfall left 31 people looking for a spare cushion at the Aalborg branch of Ikea on Wednesday as they were forced to spend the night at the store.

Published: 2 December 2021 09:11 CET
A file photo at Ikea in Aalborg, where 31 people stayed overnight during a snowstorm on December 1st 2021.
A file photo at Ikea in Aalborg, where 31 people stayed overnight during a snowstorm on December 1st 2021. Photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

Anyone who has found themselves wandering the mazy aisles of an Ikea might be able to empathise with the sense of being lost in the furniture store for a seemingly indefinite time.

Such a feeling was probably more real than usual for six customers and 25 staff members who were forced to spend the night at the furniture giant’s Aalborg branch after being snowed in.

Heavy snow in North Jutland brought traffic to a standstill and halted public transport in parts of the region on Wednesday afternoon, resulting in a snow-in at Ikea.

“This is certainly a new situation for us,” Ikea Aalborg store manager Peter Elmose told local media Nordjyske, which first reported the story.

“It’s certainly not how I thought my day would end when I drove to work this morning,” Elmose added.

The 31 people gathered in the store’s restaurant area and planned to see Christmas television and football to pass the evening, the store’s manager reported to Nordjyske.

“Our kitchen staff have made sure there is hot chocolate, risalamande, pastries, soft drinks, coffee and the odd beer for us in light of the occasion. So we’ll be able to keep warm,” he said.

“We couldn’t just send them outside and lock the door behind them at our 8pm closing time. Absolutely not. So of course they’ll be staying here,” he added.

The temporary guests were given lodging in different departments of the store in view of the Covid-19 situation, Nordjyske writes.

“For us , the most important thing was to take care of each other and that everyone feels safe,” Elmose said.

At least Ikea’s stranded customers and staff had somewhere comfortable to lay their heads.

The same can unlikely be said for around 300 passengers at the city’s airport who had to stay overnight at the terminal.

The airport was forced to stop flights from 2:30pm yesterday amid worsening weather, which also prevented buses from transferring passengers to hotels.

“We have around 300 people in the terminal right now and have been giving out blankets on the assumption they will be staying here tonight,” Aalborg Airport operations manager Kim Bermann told Nordjyske.

READ ALSO: Ikea reopens in Denmark after country’s worst retail month this century

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