Indonesia enacts Ministry of Law Regulation No. 6 of 2026 for patents

Filing Documentation and Language Requirements

Under Article 2 of the new regulation, patent applications must include essential identifying information regarding the applicant, inventor, and legal attorney, alongside the invention title and priority or Patent Cooperation Treaty details. Submissions require a complete description, claims, an abstract, and necessary drawings. Additional mandatory documents consist of a power of attorney, an assignment of rights when the applicant is not the sole inventor, a micro-organism deposit certificate where applicable, and a statement detailing the origin of genetic resources or traditional knowledge.

The regulation mandates a specific structural format for patent specifications, covering the field of the invention, background, summary, drawing descriptions, detailed descriptions, and sequence listings. Article 7 establishes strict translation rules for foreign-language filings. If a patent description is written in a language other than English, applicants must supply both English and Indonesian translations within 30 days of the application date. The regulation provides no extensions for this translation deadline.

Patent Cooperation Treaty National Phase Deadlines

International applicants designating Indonesia through the Patent Cooperation Treaty must enter the Indonesian national phase within 31 months from the international filing date or the earliest priority date. The regulatory framework permits limited mechanisms for late entry, subject to government fees. Under these provisions, extensions of up to three months or 12 months are available depending on the circumstances. Applications submitted past the allowable extension window cannot proceed.

For standard priority applications, Article 28 provides a safeguard for missing filing windows. Although priority applications normally carry a 12-month deadline from the priority date, applicants can submit late filings within an additional four-month period by paying an official government fee. However, the applicant must furnish the underlying priority document within 16 months from the priority date.

Accelerated Examination and Regional Cooperation Mechanisms

The regulatory update introduces structured pathways for expedited publication and examination. Applicants can request expedited publication as early as three months from the filing date by paying additional official fees, though this mechanism excludes applications containing priority claims. Utility model simple patents carry a significantly shorter publication window of 14 days.

Applicants may also request early substantive examination prior to publication once formality requirements are satisfied. Examiners are expected to issue a grant or rejection decision within 12 months following the close of the publication period, barring oppositions that necessitate extended examination.

To speed up prosecution timelines, the regulation formally recognizes accelerated substantive examination through the Patent Cooperation Treaty pathways and regional frameworks such as the ASEAN Patent Examination Cooperation. Indonesia maintains active Patent Prosecution Highway arrangements with the Japan Patent Office and the Korean Intellectual Property Office. These frameworks allow applicants to use examination results from partner offices to accelerate corresponding patent evaluations at the Directorate General of Intellectual Property.