IKEA loses brand trademark in Indonesia

IKEA has lost its trademark in Indonesia, after the country’s highest court ruled the name was owned by a local company, Associated Press reported on Friday.

The furniture giant, which was founded in Sweden in 1943, lost its dispute to furniture company PT Ratania Khatulistiwa.

IKEA in that instance was an acronym of Indonesian words Intan Khatulistiwa Esa Abadi, which refers to the rattan industry.

Associated Press reported that in the ruling, which was made in May 2015 but published this week, the court said the company had not actively used the trademark in three consecutive years for commercial purposes, which meant it could be deleted under the country’s trademark law.

The company’s only outlet opened in Jakarta in late 2014 – four years after it registered the trademark.