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· 4 min read
How to Choose the Right Trademark Class
Heshan Fernando
Co-founder & COO
You’re registering a trademark for a booking app. The form asks which classes you’re filing in, and the answer determines both what you’re protected for and what you pay — registries charge per class.
Pick too narrowly and a competitor can use your name in an adjacent category. Pick too broadly and you’ve paid for classes you don’t use, which can later be challenged for non-use.
How the classification works
The Nice Classification divides everything into 45 classes: 1 to 34 for goods, 35 to 45 for services. Nearly every trademark registry in the world uses it, which is what makes international filing coherent.
Protection is limited to the classes you file in, and to the wording of the goods and services you specify within them. That wording matters as much as the class number — two applications in the same class with different descriptions cover different ground.
The boundary that catches most people is software. Class 9 covers software supplied as goods: downloaded, installed, on media. Class 42 covers software provided as a service — hosted, accessed over a network. A product that’s a web app with a downloadable desktop client plausibly needs both. Filing only in 9 for a SaaS product is a common and expensive mistake.
Similar splits exist elsewhere. Selling clothing is class 25; running a shop that sells clothing is class 35. Making beer is class 32; running a pub is class 43.
Why people get stuck here
- Describing the business, not the goods. Classification follows what you sell, in the registry’s terms, not how you describe your company.
- The goods-versus-service boundary. Making a thing and providing a service around it are different classes.
- Cost pressure. Per-class fees encourage filing narrowly, sometimes narrower than the business actually needs.
- Non-use vulnerability. Filing in classes you don’t trade in leaves the registration open to challenge after a few years.
What good class selection looks like
Based on what you actually sell today, plus credible near-term plans
Not every direction the business might take. A registry expects genuine use, and speculative classes are the ones that get challenged.
Checked against the near misses
The classes you nearly chose are as informative as the one you did. If the boundary is genuinely ambiguous, that’s the point at which professional advice pays for itself.
Worded carefully within the class
The specification text defines the scope. Copying the class heading wholesale is sometimes accepted and sometimes objected to, depending on the registry.
| Business | Likely Class | Also Consider |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted software product | 42 (SaaS) | 9 if also downloadable |
| Clothing brand | 25 (garments) | 35 if you run a shop |
| Brewery | 32 (beer) | 43 if you run a taproom |
| Consultancy | 35 (business services) | 41 if you also train |
Common mistakes to avoid
- Filing a SaaS product in class 9 only and discovering the gap when enforcing.
- Filing in ten classes to be safe, then facing non-use challenges on eight of them.
- Copying a competitor’s class list without checking whether your businesses actually match.
- Using vague specification wording that the registry objects to, delaying the application.
- Assuming a registration in one country covers others — trademarks are territorial.
How to do it with Trademark Class Finder
The Trademark Class Finder narrows the candidate classes and shows the near misses.
- Describe what you actually sell, in the words a customer would use.
- Indicate whether it’s a product, a service, or both.
- Read the likely classes and the near misses — the boundary is where applications go wrong.
- Check your shortlist against the official Nice list for your registry before filing.
- Take genuinely ambiguous cases to an attorney; a wrong class costs more than the advice.
Other business admin tools are in the tools directory.
Frequently asked questions
Why is software split across classes 9 and 42?
Class 9 treats software as goods — something supplied to the customer. Class 42 treats it as a service — something you provide access to. A hosted product with a downloadable client can legitimately need both.
Does one application cover every class?
No. Registries charge per class and protection extends only to the classes and wording you file. That’s the trade-off: filing broadly is expensive and challengeable, filing narrowly leaves gaps.
Is this legal advice?
No. Classification is a judgement call that attorneys genuinely argue over, and a wrong class can undermine an application. Use this to prepare the conversation, not to replace it.
Final thought
Work out the boundary cases before you file, not when you’re trying to enforce. The class you nearly picked is usually the one a competitor will use.