Based on the decision of the Jakarta Commercial Court and the Indonesian Supreme Court (after an appeal), the world's largest furniture retailer IKEA fails to own the right to use its brand name in Indonesia as Surabaya-based furniture company Ratania Khatulistiwa claimed the trademark for its acronym for Intan Khatulistiwa Esa Abadi. Although Inter IKEA System had registered the trademark "IKEA" with the Indonesian directorate-general of intellectual property both in 2006 and in 2010, Ratania Khatulistiwa successfully claimed that the global furniture giant had not used the trademark for commercial purposes for three consecutive years.

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Indonesian stocks and the rupiah are having a great day on Friday (05/02). During the first trading session Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index surged 2.33 percent to 4,774.68 points, while the Indonesian rupiah had appreciated 0.46 percent to IDR 13,577 per US dollar (Bloomberg Dollar Index) by 12:35 pm local Jakarta time. These positive developments are caused by the country's better-than-expected Q4-2015 GDP growth result. This morning it was announced that the Indonesian economy expanded 5.04 percent (y/y) in the fourth quarter of 2015.

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On Friday morning (05/02) Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced that Indonesia's economy expanded 5.04 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2015, slightly higher than most analysts had been expecting. Full-year 2015 gross domestic product (GDP) growth was 4.79 percent (y/y). Although this figure is in line with expectations (which ranged between 4.70 and 4.80 percent), the growth pace still constitutes a six-year low for Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy. Meanwhile, BPS also announced it had revised Q3-2015 GDP up from 4.73 (y/y) to 4.74 (y/y).

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Rubber production in West Java continues to decline each year as ageing rubber trees cause lower productivity. Jabar Iyus Supriatna, adviser to the Indonesian Rubber Farmers Association (Apkarindo), therefore requests the government to take action and increase support for Indonesia's upstream rubber sector. Reportedly, the average yearly rubber output in the province of West Java fell to below the 750 kilogram per hectare mark. Supriatna said production should be optimized to about 1.5 tons per hectare in this province (through the rejuvenation of the rubber trees).

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