Trademark Classes

An Explanation of the Purpose and Function of Trademark Classes

Trademark classes are the numbered categories used in trademark registration to describe the goods and services sold under a mark. They are a critical feature of the trademark application process because the applicant's goods and services must be placed in the proper classes at the time the trademark application is filed. The trademark class(es) also affect filing costs, trademark search strategy, the risk of refusal by the trademark examiner, and the practical scope of protection.

What Are Trademark Classes?

A trademark application must identify the goods or services for which the mark is used or will be used. Goods are tangible products customers buy and use, such as clothing, software sold as downloadable products, food items, or machinery. Services are intangible activities performed for the benefit of others, such as online retail store services, business consulting, entertainment, education, medical care, or legal services. The USPTO uses trademark classes to organize goods and services, assess fees, and aid searching its database of registered and pending marks. They help applicants describe their commercial activity, help the USPTO assess fees, and aid searching its database of registered and pending marks.

Choosing the correct class matters because a registration generally protects the mark only for the identified goods or services, not for every possible product or business activity. A company may need one class or multiple classes if the same brand is used across different offerings. Class selection also affects clearance searching, because similar marks in related or coordinated classes may still create a likelihood of confusion even if they are not in the same class. In short, trademark classes define the commercial context in which trademark rights are examined, registered, and enforced.

The Nice Classification System

The Nice Classification system, established by the Nice Agreement in 1957 and administered through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is the global framework for grouping trademark-related goods and services into standardized international trademark classes. Instead of requiring every country to create its own incompatible class labels, the system uses a shared classification system that allows applicants, trademark offices, and searchers to describe products and services in a consistent way. For business owners, that consistency matters because it makes international trademark filing, Madrid-based international registration, and cross-border clearance more predictable. A company seeking protection for computer software, medical devices, clothing, or business services can often begin with the same international classes when evaluating filings in different jurisdictions. The class number does not decide by itself whether trademark infringement occurred, but it helps organize searches, compare competitors’ filings, identify related goods or services, and reduce avoidable errors when expanding a brand internationally.

How Many Trademark Classes Are There?

How many trademark classes are there? There are 45 international classes in the Nice Classification system. Classes 1–34 cover goods, meaning tangible products such as clothing, software, food, machinery, chemicals, and building materials. Classes 35–45 cover services, meaning activities performed for others, such as advertising, business management, education, legal services, medical services, and retail store services. The system began with 34 goods classes and later expanded to include 11 services class categories. Each trademark application must identify at least one class, and protection generally tracks the selected goods or services listed in the application.

Why the Appropriate Class Matters

Choosing the appropriate class matters because a trademark application must explain exactly how the mark is or will be used. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) requires at least one class, and 37 C.F.R. § 2.32 requires the application to include a list of the particular goods or services and the fee for each class. A registration generally protects the trademark only in the class or classes identified in the application and only for the listed goods and services, not for every possible business activity. For example, a mark registered for clothing does not automatically protect unrelated software, food products, or legal services. The class also affects USPTO filing fees because each class requires a separate fee. Selecting the wrong class can lead to an Office Action, delays, added costs, or a narrower registration than expected. Careful classification helps define the trademark’s commercial scope and supports stronger trademark registration strategy.

Goods Classes

The first 34 trademark classes cover goods, meaning physical products that customers buy, use, consume, wear, install, or otherwise receive as tangible items. These classes are organized partly by product function and partly by material composition. For example, some classes focus on chemicals, cosmetics, foods, machines, electronics, clothing, or building products, while others group products based on whether they are made of metal, paper, textile, synthetic materials, or other materials.

The class should match the actual product sold under the mark. A company selling fertilizer, for example, will likely look at a different class than a company selling cosmetics, metal hardware, or automatic vending machines. The following examples illustrate how the goods classes begin to operate in practice:

• Class 1 - Chemicals and related industrial products: Class 1 includes chemicals used in industry, science, and agriculture. Common examples include adhesives, fertilizers, biological preparations, unprocessed artificial resins, and tempering and soldering preparations.
• Class 2 - Paints, coatings, and certain raw materials: Class 2 includes paint, varnish, lacquer, preservatives against rust, colorant, dye, raw natural resin, and metals in foil and powder form for use in painting, decorating, printing, and art.
• Class 3 - Cosmetics, cleaning products, and toiletries: Class 3 covers non-medicated cosmetics, perfumes, essential oils, cleaning products, laundry detergents, toiletries, abrasive preparations, and certain sanitary preparations in the non-medicated sense.
• Class 5 - Medical, veterinary, and sanitary goods: Class 5 includes medical and veterinary preparations, pharmaceutical preparations, sanitary preparations for medical purposes, dietary supplements, disinfectants, and some suture materials.
• Class 6 - Metal goods and metal construction materials: Class 6 covers metal building materials, transportable buildings of metal, non-electric cables and wires of common metal, metal hardware, small items of metal hardware, and building materials made primarily of metal.
• Class 7 - Machines and machine-related goods: Class 7 is often thought of as the machinery class. It includes machines, machine tools, motors and engines other than for land vehicles, machine coupling and transmission components, agricultural implements, automatic vending machines, and sometimes coin operated apparatus when classified as machinery rather than electronics or services.

Electronics, Medical Devices, Vehicles, Jewelry, and Musical Goods

• Class 9 - Electronics, software, and safety-related goods: Class 9 generally covers Electronics such as computers, computer peripheral devices, downloadable computer software, certain teaching apparatus, safety equipment, safety-related products, protective devices, electronic, scientific, optical, measuring, signaling, and fire extinguishing apparatus.
• Class 10 - Medical, veterinary, and assistive apparatus: Class 10 is often referred to as the medical apparatus class. It covers medical apparatus and instruments used for diagnosis, treatment, therapy, surgery, rehabilitation, and patient care, as well as veterinary apparatus and certain therapeutic and assistive devices designed to support health, mobility, or medical treatment.
• Class 11 - Environmental control and sanitary installations: Class 11 is commonly understood as the environmental control apparatus class. It includes environmental control apparatus used for lighting, heating, cooling, steam generation, cooking, refrigeration, drying, ventilation, water supply, and sanitary purposes, making it especially relevant for businesses selling appliances, fixtures, HVAC products, and related systems.
• Class 12 - Vehicles and transportation-related goods: Class 12 is the vehicles class. It covers vehicles and apparatus for transportation by land, air, or water, including land vehicles, structural vehicle parts, vehicle bodies, tires, engines for land vehicles, and related transportation products sold under a trademark.
• Class 14 - Jewelry, precious metals, and timekeeping goods: Class 14 is commonly described as the jewelry class. It includes precious metals and their alloys, jewelry, gemstones, watches, clocks, and horological and chronometric instruments, making it important for brands selling luxury goods, fashion accessories, timepieces, and precious-metal products.
• Class 15 - Musical instruments and related goods: Class 15 covers musical instruments and certain accessories used with musical instruments. This class may apply to businesses selling guitars, pianos, drums, wind instruments, string instruments, electronic musical instruments, instrument cases, stands, reeds, strings, bows, and other goods closely tied to musical performance.

Materials, Food, Clothing, and Household Goods

• Class 16 - Paper goods, printed matter, and office supplies: Class 16 covers paper goods, printed matter, photographs, packaging materials made of paper or cardboard, bookbinding material, stationery and office requisites, drawing materials, artists’ supplies, and instructional and teaching materials, making it relevant for publishers, office-supply companies, educators, and product-packaging brands.
• Class 17 - Insulation, flexible pipes, and industrial materials: Class 17 covers rubber, gutta-percha, gum, asbestos, mica, plastics in extruded form for use in manufacture, insulating materials, flexible pipes, and substitutes for all these materials. This class is often relevant for industrial, construction, plumbing, sealing, and manufacturing-related products.
• Class 19 - Non-metal building and construction materials: Class 19 covers non-metal building materials, including materials used in construction, road making, masonry, and structural projects. This class may include pipes for building, cement, pitch, bitumen, non-metal transportable buildings, monuments, and other non-metal construction products.
• Class 21 - Housewares, containers, and brush-making goods: Class 21 includes household and kitchen utensils, containers, cookware, combs, sponges, cleaning articles, glassware, porcelain, earthenware, and brush making materials. This class is commonly relevant for consumer brands selling housewares, kitchen tools, cleaning products, grooming accessories, and related household goods.
• Class 22 - Raw textile materials, stuffing, and related goods: Class 22 includes ropes, string, nets, awnings, tarpaulins, sails, padding and stuffing materials, and raw fibrous textile materials. It may also include awnings and related goods made of textile or synthetic materials, depending on the nature of the product.
• Class 24 - Textiles and textile substitutes: Class 24 covers textiles, textile goods, and certain substitutes for textiles. This class may apply to fabrics, household linens, bed covers, table covers, curtains, towels, and products made from textile or synthetic materials when the goods are classified as textiles rather than finished clothing or household articles.
• Class 25 - Clothing, footwear, and headwear: Class 25 covers clothing, apparel, footwear, and headwear. This class is central for fashion brands, apparel companies, footwear businesses, and merchandise sellers offering shirts, pants, jackets, dresses, hats, shoes, uniforms, athletic wear, and other wearable goods under a trademark.
• Class 27 - Floor coverings and wall coverings: Class 27 is the floor coverings class. It covers carpets, rugs, mats, matting, linoleum, wall hangings not made of textile, and other materials used for covering existing floors, making it relevant for flooring companies, interior design brands, home-improvement businesses, and commercial décor suppliers.
• Class 28 - Toys, games, and sporting goods: Class 28 covers games, toys, video games, sporting equipment, and sporting articles. This class may apply to businesses selling fitness products, athletic equipment, board games, toys, exercise accessories, recreational gear, and sports-related consumer products.
• Class 29 - Processed foods of animal or preserved origin: Class 29 is often treated as the processed foods class. It covers foodstuffs of animal origin, including meat, fish, poultry, game, dairy products, eggs, edible oils and fats, as well as preserved, frozen, dried, and cooked fruits and vegetables.
• Class 30 - Staple foods and pantry products: Class 30 is commonly described as the staple foods class. It includes coffee, tea, cocoa, rice, pasta, noodles, tapioca, flour, bread, pastries, confectionery, chocolate, ice cream, sugar, honey, yeast, baking powder, salt, seasonings, spices, and other pantry or grain-based food products.
• Class 31 - Raw agricultural and natural products: Class 31 covers unprocessed agricultural, aquacultural, horticultural, and forestry products, raw grains and seeds, fresh fruits and vegetables, natural plants and flowers, live animals, foodstuffs for animals, malt, and other unprocessed natural goods.
• Class 32 - Beers and non-alcoholic beverages: Class 32 is often described as the light beverages class. It covers beers, non-alcoholic beverages, mineral and aerated waters, fruit beverages, fruit juices, syrups, and other preparations for making beverages, making it important for beverage companies and drink-product brands.

Services Classes

While goods classes cover tangible products, services classes cover intangible activities performed for the benefit of others. In the trademark context, a service is performed for customers, clients, members, or the public, such as advertising, consulting, banking, construction, education, healthcare, or legal services. However, advertising for your own business is not providing services you are providing in commerce under trademark law, and does not support any trademark rights or registration. Services have to be provided to another.

Selecting the correct services class is important because the trademark application must accurately describe how the mark is used in commerce. A company that offers consulting, education, professional, healthcare, or other services should identify the class that best matches the actual customer-facing service. Common services classes include:

• Class 35 - Advertising, Business, and Retail Services: Class 35 includes advertising, business management and administration, marketing services, and online retail store services. This class is frequently used by businesses that provide consulting, promotional services, e-commerce retail services, or services related to the organization and operation of businesses.
• Class 36 - Insurance and Financial Services: Class 36 is often referred to as the financial class. It covers insurance services, banking, real estate affairs, financial analysis, investment services, payment processing, and other finance-related services.
• Class 37 - Construction, Installation, and Repair Services: Class 37 covers building construction, repair, installation, maintenance, and related services. Businesses in construction, remodeling, machinery repair, vehicle maintenance, and property improvement commonly consider this class.
• Class 41 - Education, Training, and Entertainment Services: Class 41 includes educational services, entertainment services, training, coaching, live events, sports instruction, cultural activities, and recreational services. This class may apply to businesses offering courses, workshops, conferences, concerts, online training, or entertainment programming.
• Class 44 - Medical, Veterinary, Beauty, and Agricultural Services: Class 44 primarily includes medical and veterinary services, healthcare services, wellness services, agriculture-related services, and hygienic and beauty care for humans and animals. Examples include medical clinics, veterinary clinics, beauty salons, spas, and certain health-related professional services.
• Class 45 - Personal, Social, Security, and Legal Services: Class 45 covers personal, social, and professional services to meet individual needs, security services, and legal services. This class may apply to law firms, legal document services, security consulting, private investigation, and certain personal assistance services.

Coordinated Classes and Trademark Searching

Searching the USPTO trademark ID manual for similar products can help identify class choices and reveal how examiners may view related goods or services. It is also important to search the USPTO trademark search system and use the coordinated classes options in your trademark search because certain products may fall into classes that are closely related even when they are not in the same class. For example, clothing in Class 25 may be related to jewelry in Class 14 or retail services in Class 35 if consumers would expect them to come from the same brand. Searching for similar marks in these coordinated classes helps applicants identify potential conflicting trademark filings and avoid potential likelihood of confusion issues.

Multiple Classes and Filing Fees

A single trademark application may cover multiple classes when a brand is used for different goods or services, but the USPTO charges filing fees separately for each class. Under the USPTO’s current electronic filing framework in the Trademark Center, which recently replaced many functions of the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), the base application fee is $350 per class for Section 1 and Section 44 applications that meet base requirements. That means a two-class application generally starts at $700, and a three-class application starts at $1,050. Additional USPTO fees may apply for incomplete information, custom identifications, or later use-related filings, so class selection directly affects total cost.

ID Manual, Bona Fide Intent, and Office Actions

Using the Trademark ID Manual facilitates finding pre-approved descriptions of goods and services, which can lower filing fees, and expedite approval. Filing also requires use in commerce or a bona fide intent to use the mark in the near future. 15 U.S.C. § 1051(b) expressly permits an intent-to-use application based on a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce. Selecting the wrong class or using vague wording can trigger an Office Action, which may require amendment, added-class fees, or refiling if the problem cannot be corrected within the application.

The Same Mark Can Sometimes Exist in Different Classes

A registration in one class does not automatically prevent another party from registering the same trademark in a different class, or even in the same class, if the respective goods or services are sufficiently unrelated and consumers are unlikely to believe they come from the same source. For example, Delta Airlines and Delta faucets coexist because of the unrelatedness of their respective services and goods. The controlling question under 15 U.S.C. § 1052(d) is whether the applicant’s mark, as used with the identified goods or services, is likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception. For example

The leading case, In re E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., 476 F.2d 1357 (C.C.P.A. 1973), identifies the multi-factor likelihood-of-confusion test used by the USPTO and courts. The du Pont factors show why two identical marks can sometimes coexist: the analysis considers not only the similarity of the marks, but also the relatedness of the goods or services, trade channels, purchasers, market conditions, and evidence of actual confusion.

In In re 1729 Investments LLC, Serial No. 90694523 (TTAB Apr. 24, 2023), the TTAB reversed a likelihood-of-confusion refusal and allowed the applicant to pursue registration of RAO’S for wine in Class 33 despite existing RAO’S registrations for restaurant and bar services in Classes 42/43. The Board found the marks identical, but held that the USPTO had not shown the required relatedness between the identified wine and restaurant/bar services, particularly in view of the applicant’s trade-channel restrictions and the sophistication of purchasers.

Accordingly, the same mark may be simultaneously registered when the records show commercially distinct goods or services, different trade channels, and no likely consumer confusion.

Conclusion

Trademark classes are more than filing categories. Trademark classes help business owners and entrepreneurs describe what they sell, compare competitors, budget filing fees, and avoid preventable refusals. Best practices include searching the USPTO database, reviewing coordinated classes, and checking the Trademark ID Manual for proper classification of goods and services and choosing the appropriate class or multiple classes that match actual use or bona fide intent. Careful class selection can reduce filing mistakes, avoid unnecessary USPTO fees, lower the risk of an Office Action, and help ensure that the resulting registration reflects the real scope of the business’s brand use.

If you need assistance with a trademark application or other trademark matter, please contact our office to work with our skilled trademark attorneys.

© 2026 Sierra IP Law, PC. The information provided herein does not constitute legal advice, but merely conveys general information that may be beneficial to the public, and should not be viewed as a substitute for legal consultation in a particular case.