Minister of Laws and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia, Yasonna H. Laoly, has recently appointed Min Usihen as the new Director General of Intellectual Property. Formal inauguration of the new DG, along with other senior officials of the Ministry, is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, April 4, in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Prior to the present appointment, Min Usihen was the Expert Staff to the Minister of Laws and Human Rights for Social Affairs. From 2019 to 2020, she was the Head of Human Resources Development Agency of the Ministry of Laws and Human Rights.
The post of Director General of IP itself has been without a definitive official since the last DG, Dr. Freddy Harris, resigned in late 2021. During the vacant period, the post was held by Ir. Razilu as Acting Director General, concurrently with his definitive post as the Inspector General of the Ministry.
Within the bureaucratic structure of the Indonesian government, Directorate General is organized as the functional subordinate of the ministry at the first echelon level. Particularly for the Ministry of Laws and Human Rights, there are five others functional subordinates at the same level, namely the Directorate Generals of Laws and Regulations, Immigration, General Law Administration, Penitentiary, and Human Rights.
The Directorate General of Intellectual Property was first established in 1988 as the Directorate General of Copyrights, Patent and Mark. Its predecessor, Directorate of Patent and Copyright, was at the second echelon level of the ministry’s structure. The name later changed into Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights, before the eventual change in 2011 to its current name. It now supervises six second echelon level directorates, namely Directorates of Copyright and Industrial Design; Patent, IC Layout Design and Trade Secrets; Mark and Geographical Indication; IP Cooperation and Empowerment; Information Technology; and Investigation and Dispute Settlement.
Min Usihen is the first female Director General of IP in Indonesia. Her appointment to the post somehow resonates the main theme of this year’s World Intellectual Property Day, which is “Women and IP: Accelerating innovation and creativity”, and it is expected that appointment of a senior female official as Director General of IP would help fostering awareness on the importance of IP protection as well as raising engagement in IP protection and commercialization efforts among women inventors, creators and entrepreneurs.