Pamekasan - The Pamekasan district administration has initiated steps to obtain patents on 24 batik motifs believed to be the region`s indigenous creations, a local official said.
Mohamad Bahrun, head of the Pamekasan district`s trade and industry office, said the effort was being made to prevent other parties from making wrongful copyright claims to the motifs.
"We don`t want outsiders to claim the batik motifs that were created by Pamekasan people as has happened with certain cultural products of other regions," he said.
The batik motifs on which patent rights were being sought included those named "karapan sapi", "sakereh", "essenah sakereh", "kempheng saladerih."
He said the district administration had processed all the documents needed to officially register the motifs and apply for the patent rights on them.
Source: http://www.antaranews.com (September 13, 2008)