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Nice Classification
A trademark cannot be protected in its abstract form; the protection has to be related to the actual use of goods/services.
The choice, based on the Nice Classification, of the goods/services that will be marked with a trademark, has to be made while submitting the application.
Nice Classification
It is an international classification system that allows to divide the different typologies of goods and services into 45 classes.
Classes #1 to #34 are related to goods; classes #35 to #45 are related to services.
In particular, the Nice Classification includes the following information: titles of classes; a list of goods and services in alphabetical order; guidelines with explicative notes and general remarks on the classification criteria.
Every five years a new edition of the Classification is published, and it is also continuously updated according to market and consumer needs.
The current applicable Nice Classification (11th edition) includes:
- Guide to the International Registration of Marks;
- List of goods and services in Alphabetical Order;
- List of goods and services grouped in order of class.
Tools for classification of trademarks
In order to classify correctly goods and services, the various Patent and Trademark Offices suggest to use the TMCLASS database and/or the MGS database.
TMCLASS
Created by the EUIPO, it includes both goods and services listed in the Nice Classification and those approved by the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (UIBM), by the EUIPO and by the “harmonized offices”.
MGS Madrid Goods & Services Manager
Created by the WIPO, it includes both goods and services listed in the Nice Classification and those approved by the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (UIBM) and by the WIPO.
When the type of goods/services is already known, it is possible to “search by term” and, among all the obtained results, it is possible to choose the description of goods/services that suits the applicant’s trademark best.
If a term is not present in the database, the Office will assess its acceptability.
Directions on how to classify a trademark:
- When choosing the appropriate classes of goods/services, it is necessary to consider not only the current situation but also possible future choices: in fact, after filing a trademark it is not possible to add further classes/goods/services to the registered classification. To make such additions, the trademark must be newly filed. On the contrary, it is always possible to impose limits on classes/goods/services that have already been filed;
- Goods and services have to be clearly and precisely defined, because it is not possible to obtain the protection for an entire class by specifying only its title. The UIBM and the EUIPO follow the practice introduced by the European ruling named “IP Translator”, which states that specifying the title of a class does not provide coverage of every type of good/service falling within that very class. In this case, the coverage is provided only via the literal meaning of the class;
- A careful and detailed classification results in a good protection of a trademark. Conversely, an incomplete or incorrect classification may result in an inadequate protection with regard to the trademarks filed afterwards for similar classes/goods/services. Furthermore, an accurate classification can avoid the risk of disputes with holders of trademarks that have previously been filed.