Why Trademark Registration Matters: The Denza Trademark Lesson

In January 2025, one of the world’s biggest electric vehicle makers walked into a Jakarta courtroom to fight for the right to use its own brand name. It lost. The company was BYD, and the brand in question was Denza, its premium EV line. The story is not really about cars. It is about a lesson every business owner, from a home bakery in Tampines to a listed multinational, needs to learn before it is too late.

Overview

This section summarizes the key points for readers who want the essentials before diving into the full story.

• BYD, one of the world’s largest EV makers, lost a trademark dispute in Indonesia because a local company registered the name Denza before BYD’s own application was filed.
• Indonesia, Singapore, and most countries in the region follow the first-to-file principle, so the first party to register a trademark generally secures the rights, regardless of who used the name first.
• Registering a business name with a corporate registry, such as ACRA in Singapore, is not the same as registering a trademark, and it offers no brand protection on its own.
• Delayed trademark registration can lead to legal disputes, forced rebranding, delayed market entry, reputational damage, and lost business opportunities.
• SMEs are often more vulnerable than large corporations because they usually have fewer resources to fund lengthy legal battles or absorb the cost of rebranding.
• A trademark search before entering a new market, including Indonesia or any other ASEAN country, helps a business avoid stepping into someone else’s registered rights.
• The article closes with a practical checklist covering when to register, how to identify the right trademark classes, and how to plan protection across multiple markets.

What Happened: BYD’s Denza Trademark Dispute in Indonesia

Denza is a premium electric vehicle brand developed by BYD, and the company began marketing vehicles under this name in Indonesia in January 2025 ahead of a planned local launch. There was one problem. An Indonesian company, PT Worcas Nusantara Abadi, had already registered the trademark Denza on 3 July 2023 under registration number IDM001176306, covering Class 12, which includes vehicles and related products, with protection running until 2033. BYD only filed its own trademark application in Indonesia on 8 August 2024, more than a year later.

BYD subsequently filed a lawsuit at the Central Jakarta Commercial Court, asking the court to recognize the company as the rightful owner of the Denza mark, to declare Denza a well known trademark, and to cancel the local registration on the grounds of bad faith. The Central Jakarta Commercial Court dismissed BYD’s claims and ordered the company to pay court costs. BYD then brought the matter to the Supreme Court of Indonesia.

According to ABNR Counsellors at Law, the Supreme Court ultimately rejected BYD’s claim through Decision No. 1338 K/Pdt.Sus-HKI/2025, and the locally registered Denza trademark remained valid. Interestingly, the judges based their decision on a procedural technicality called error in persona, meaning the lawsuit had named the wrong defendant because ownership of the mark had already changed hands before BYD filed suit, rather than ruling directly on whether Denza qualified as a well known international brand.

Indonesia’s Directorate General of Intellectual Property, known as DJKI, weighed in on the case as well. Its Director of Trademarks and Geographical Indications, Hermansyah Siregar, described the ruling as a reminder for every business to register trademarks as early as possible, adding that strong intellectual property protection is a core foundation for innovation, investment, and economic growth.

Trademark Registration vs Business Name Registration: Why They Are Not the Same

Many business owners assume that once their company name is registered, their brand is automatically protected. That assumption is one of the most common and most costly misunderstandings in business today. Registering a business name and registering a trademark serve completely different purposes, and confusing the two is exactly what leaves brands exposed.

A business name registration, filed with a corporate registry such as ACRA in Singapore, simply confirms that no other company in the same jurisdiction is using an identical registered name for incorporation purposes. It does not stop a competitor from using a similar name for a different type of business, and it does not give any exclusive rights over how that name is used in marketing, packaging, or products. Trademark registration, on the other hand, grants the owner exclusive rights to use a specific name, logo, slogan, or symbol in connection with particular goods or services, and it allows the owner to take legal action against anyone who uses a confusingly similar mark within that scope.

For readers who want to check this directly, IPOS maintains Singapore’s official trademark register and application system, and it is a useful first stop for any business trademark singapore query before committing to a brand name.

Understanding the First-to-File Principle

The first-to-file principle is the single most important concept in this entire story, and it is worth explaining in plain terms. In a first to file country, trademark rights generally go to whichever party submits a valid application first, not to whichever party used the name first in the real world. Singapore, Indonesia, and the majority of countries in Asia follow this system.

As explained by Am Badar & Am Badar, first to file means the first person or company to file an application with the relevant authority generally has priority over any later applicant for the same or a similar mark, regardless of who started using the brand commercially. This is very different from a first to use system, where usage history can sometimes override a later registration.

This is precisely the gap that caught BYD off guard. The company had likely been using the Denza name internationally for years, but under Indonesian law, prior international use did not automatically override a locally filed, earlier registration. The lesson translates directly into every business expansion decision. If a company plans to sell, market, or license a product under a certain name in a new country, filing the trademark application before launch is not optional caution, it is a basic requirement for protect your brand singapore and abroad.

What Happens When Trademark Registration Is Delayed

The consequences of delayed trademark registration rarely show up immediately, and that is exactly what makes the risk so easy to underestimate. A business can operate for years without a registered trademark and feel perfectly safe, right until a competitor, a copycat, or an opportunistic filer registers the same name first. At that point, the options become expensive, slow, and uncertain.

• Legal disputes: The business may need to sue or defend a lawsuit to recover rights to its own brand name, a process that can drag on for years, as seen in the Denza case.
• Forced rebranding: If the dispute is lost, the company may have to change its name, logo, packaging, signage, and marketing materials entirely, often at very short notice.
• Delayed market entry: Launch plans, product listings, and marketing campaigns may need to be paused or shelved until the trademark issue is resolved.
• Reputational damage: News of a trademark dispute can raise questions among customers, investors, and partners about the company’s planning and due diligence.
• Lost business opportunities: Distributors, franchisees, or retail partners may hesitate to commit to a brand whose legal ownership is still being contested.

None of these outcomes are unique to giant corporations. In fact, they tend to hit smaller businesses even harder, which brings us to the next point.

Why SMEs Are Often More Vulnerable Than Multinational Companies

It is tempting to read the Denza story and think that this kind of dispute only happens to giant companies entering huge markets. In reality, the opposite is often true. BYD had the financial strength to fight the case all the way to the Supreme Court, and it still lost. A small or medium enterprise usually does not have that luxury.

• Limited legal budget: A prolonged trademark dispute can cost far more in legal fees than the cost of registering the trademark properly in the first place, and many SMEs simply cannot absorb that expense.
• No fallback brand equity: A large company can survive a rebrand because it has other product lines and markets to lean on. A small business often has one brand, one name, and one reputation to protect.
• Slower recovery from disruption: Losing months to a legal dispute or a sudden rebrand can be devastating for a company still building its customer base and cash flow.
• Less bargaining power: A multinational can sometimes negotiate a buyout or licensing deal with a trademark squatter. An SME rarely has the same leverage or the same appeal as a negotiating partner.

This is precisely why brand protection strategy should never be treated as a large-company problem. A trademark application typically costs a fraction of what a single month of legal disputes or a rebranding exercise would cost, which makes early registration one of the most efficient investments an SME can make.

How to Identify the Right Trademark Class for Your Business

This is one of the more technical parts of trademark registration, so it helps to slow down and explain it the way a patient teacher would. Trademarks are not registered in a general sense. Instead, every trademark application must be filed under one or more specific classes, and each class represents a category of goods or services.

Around the world, most countries, including Singapore and Indonesia, use a shared system called the Nice Classification, which is maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization. This system sorts all goods and services into 45 classes in total, with classes 1 to 34 covering physical products such as food, clothing, or vehicles, and classes 35 to 45 covering services such as advertising, education, or legal services.

Think of it a little like the aisles in a supermarket. A shopper looking for milk does not go to the aisle with light bulbs, and a trademark examiner does not expect a bakery to file under the same class as a software company. The trick is that many businesses actually need protection across more than one class. A café that sells packaged snacks under its own label, for example, may need to register under both a food products class and a restaurant services class.

A simple step by step way to find the right class

1. Write a plain list of everything the business sells or plans to sell, including products, services, and anything sold under a private label.
2. Search the free classification tools available through IPOS or WIPO to see which class each item on that list falls under.
3. Note down every class that applies, even if it means filing under two or three classes instead of one.
4. If anything feels uncertain, book a short consultation with a trademark agent rather than guessing, since filing under the wrong class can mean starting the whole process again.

Why Trademark Searches Matter Before Expanding Overseas

One of the clearest lessons from the Denza dispute is that a trademark search should always come before a market launch, never after. A trademark search simply means checking the official trademark register in a target country to see if a name, logo, or slogan a business wants to use is already registered by someone else.

For a Singapore business planning business expansion singapore style, meaning growing beyond the local market into Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, or further afield, this step becomes even more important, because trademark rights are territorial. A registration in Singapore offers no protection at all in Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, or Kuala Lumpur. Each country has its own register, and in most of the region, it runs on the same first-to-file principle that decided the Denza case.

Where to check before entering a new market

• IPOS Digital Hub, for searching and filing trademarks in Singapore.
• PDKI Online, the official Indonesian trademark database run by DJKI, useful for anyone considering trademark registration indonesia or checking an existing Indonesia trademark before launch.
• ASEAN TMview, a regional database that allows a single search across the trademark registers of several ASEAN member countries at once.
• WIPO Global Brand Database, useful for a broader international check when a brand may expand well beyond Southeast Asia.

Running these searches takes a modest amount of time compared with the cost of discovering, after a product has already launched, that another party has registered the same name. Business owners who are not confident reading these databases on their own can simply forward the proposed brand name to a trademark lawyer singapore or a regional IP agent, who can carry out a formal clearance search and flag any conflicts before money is spent on packaging, signage, or advertising.

Your Practical Trademark Protection Checklist

The following checklist draws together every lesson from the Denza case into a sequence any business owner can follow, regardless of company size or industry.

1. Register early. File your trademark application before your product launch, your marketing campaign, or your first sale, not after.
2. Search before you name. Run a trademark search in every country you plan to enter before finalizing a brand name, logo, or slogan.
3. Separate business name from trademark. Remember that registering with ACRA or a similar registry protects your company name, not your brand identity.
4. Identify every relevant class. Map out all products and services under the correct Nice Classification classes, and file under more than one class if your business genuinely spans several categories.
5. Protect more than the name. Consider registering your logo, tagline, and any distinctive packaging design if they carry real commercial value.
6. Plan country by country. Treat each new market as a separate filing decision, and secure your intellectual property protection singapore registration alongside filings in every target country before entering, not after.
7. Diarize renewal dates. Most trademark registrations last 10 years and must be renewed, so build reminders well ahead of the deadline.
8. Monitor the market. Periodically check whether a similar mark has appeared elsewhere, so any conflict can be raised early instead of years later.
9. Get professional help for cross-border filings. A trademark lawyer singapore or regional IP agent can navigate local language, documentation, and procedural requirements far more efficiently than a DIY filing.
10. Budget it into your growth plan. Treat trademark application singapore and overseas filing fees as a normal cost of expansion, the same way you would budget for rent, logistics, or marketing.

Your Brand Is an Asset, Make Sure It Is Protected One

A trademark is not simply a certificate to file away in a drawer. It is one of the few business assets that grows more valuable every year a brand builds trust with its customers, and it is also one of the easiest assets to lose if registration is delayed. The Denza case shows that even a company with global reach and deep pockets can lose the right to its own name when a filing comes too late. For a growing Singapore business planning to expand across the region, the safest move is to treat trademark registration, together with a clear brand identity and positioning strategy, as part of the plan from day one, not as a task to revisit later.

At Bizsquare Creative, our branding and marketing solutions work alongside Singapore SMEs to build brand identities strong enough to grow, expand, and stand up to exactly this kind of scrutiny. From naming direction and visual identity to positioning strategy for regional markets, our team helps you shape a brand that is genuinely worth protecting before you take it to your next market.

If your business is planning a rebrand, a new product launch, or an expansion into a new market, speak with us today and build a brand strategy that is ready for growth, and worth defending, right from the start.

Frequently Asked Questions

1.) What is a trademark, and why does my business need one?

A trademark is a legally protected sign, name, logo, or slogan that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes them from competitors. Registering one gives you exclusive rights to use it and legal grounds to stop others from using a similar mark for similar goods or services.

2.) Is registering my company name with ACRA the same as trademark registration?

No. ACRA registration confirms that your company name is unique for incorporation purposes in Singapore. It does not stop others from using a similar name for products or marketing, and it offers no protection outside Singapore. Trademark registration is a separate process handled through IPOS.

3.) What does first-to-file mean, and how does it affect my brand?

First-to-file means that whoever submits a valid trademark application first generally gets the legal rights to that mark, even if another party used the name earlier in actual business. Singapore, Indonesia, and most of Asia follow this principle, which is exactly what decided the outcome of BYD’s Denza case.

4.) How long does trademark registration take in Singapore?

A straightforward application in Singapore, filed through IPOS, typically takes around six to nine months if there are no objections or oppositions. Complex cases or objections can extend the timeline further, which is another reason to start the process early.

5.) How much does it cost to register a trademark in Singapore?

Costs depend on the number of classes filed and whether a business uses professional filing assistance, but government filing fees generally start from a few hundred dollars per class. A trademark lawyer singapore or agent can provide an exact quote based on your specific goods and services.

6.) What happens if someone registers my brand name before I do?

In a first-to-file jurisdiction, the earlier registrant generally holds the legal rights to the mark. You may need to negotiate, file an opposition during the registration process, pursue a legal cancellation action, or in some cases rebrand entirely, all of which take time and money that early registration would have avoided.

7.) Can I use my brand name if I have not registered the trademark yet?

You can usually use an unregistered name commercially, but you will not have exclusive legal rights over it, and someone else may register it first and legally block your continued use. This is precisely the gap that caused BYD’s dispute in Indonesia.

8.) How do I know which trademark class my business belongs to?

Trademark classes follow the international Nice Classification system, which sorts goods into classes 1 to 34 and services into classes 35 to 45. You can check the classification tools available through IPOS or WIPO, or ask a trademark agent to confirm the correct classes for your products and services.

9.) Do I need to register my trademark in every country I sell in?

Yes, trademark rights are territorial, meaning a Singapore registration only protects your brand within Singapore. If you plan business expansion into Indonesia, Malaysia, or any other market, you need a separate filing, or a filing through an international system, in each target country.

10.) What is the difference between a trademark and a copyright?

A trademark protects brand identifiers such as names, logos, and slogans used in commerce. A copyright protects original creative works such as writing, photography, music, or software code. A business may need both, for example a registered brand name alongside copyright protection for its website content or marketing materials.

11.) How long does a trademark registration last, and can it be renewed?

In Singapore and most countries, a trademark registration lasts 10 years from the filing date and can be renewed indefinitely for further 10 year periods, provided the renewal fees are paid on time and the mark remains in use.

12.) What should I do before expanding my brand into Indonesia or other ASEAN countries?

Run a trademark search in the target country’s official register, such as PDKI Online for Indonesia trademark checks or ASEAN TMview for a regional view, before finalizing your brand name. File your application well ahead of your planned launch date, since local processing and any objections take time to resolve.

13.) Can a small business really compete with a multinational company in a trademark dispute?

It is possible, but it is far more difficult and costly than simply registering early. BYD, despite its global resources, still lost its Denza case in Indonesia. An SME with a smaller legal budget is generally better served by avoiding the dispute altogether through early registration and proper searches.

14.) What is trademark squatting, and how can I avoid it?

Trademark squatting happens when someone registers a well known or soon to be launched brand name in a country before the legitimate brand owner does, often hoping to sell the registration back at a high price or block market entry. The most reliable way to avoid it is to file your own trademark application in every planned market as early as possible, ideally before any public announcement of your expansion plans.

15.) When is the best time to start the trademark registration process?

The best time is before you launch a product, sign a lease, print packaging, or announce an expansion, not after. Early registration is consistently the cheapest and safest route, while delayed registration is what turns a routine filing into an expensive legal dispute.