A story about our Ladybamboo Logo

Another example of a business owner who has waited more than a year for a patent is Reki Mayangsari of Ladybamboo Villa in Ubud.

Mayangsari told me about an incident which jolted her out of her complacence. In 1999 she went to Toraja and stayed at the Novotel Hotel. On a rafting trip she saw the logo she had designed herself on the hotel's lunch box. On returning to the hotel, she saw her logo again in its Bamboo Bar.

She promptly confronted the general manager about the appropriation of her design. Being honest, and probably taken aback by Mayangsari's assertiveness, the French manager by the name of Fabrice showed his good faith by withdrawing the logo from the hotel property.

When Mayangsari investigated, she found the source of the problem. Two years before she had been conducting research in Toraja and went to a printer to have some business cards made. Without her knowledge, the printer allegedly kept the design. When Novotel contacted them to have a design made, they presented her logo to Novotel as their creation.

The incident prompted Mayangsari to have her logo patented. She contacted the relevant authorities but a year and a half later after much to-ing and fro-ing and various fees, she is still waiting.

One would think copyright and patent registration would be a fairly straightforward matter as it is elsewhere, but apparently not in Indonesia. More...