What are classes of registered trademarks in the United States?

When you want to register your trademark in the United States it is very important that you research the classification system that the United States Patent and Trademark office uses to organize trademarks. The two main reasons to carefully consider the class which you will register your trademark are 1) you will be charged a fee based on the number of classes the trademark is registered under and 2) your trademark will only be granted the rights associated with federal trademark registration in the classes the trademark is registered.

There are 45 classes which a trademark can be registered under. 34 classes cover goods and 11 classes cover services. Because of the limited number of classes, sometimes it is not obvious which class you should list on your trademark application. The title of each class does not always reveal the full scope of goods or services which are covered by a class. For instance Class 22: Ropes, Cordage and Fiber Products covers ropes and string but also covers sails for boats; Class 2: Paint Products covers Paints, varnishes, lacquers but also covers metal foils and powders used by artists; Class 5: Pharmaceutical Products covers medical drugs but also covers baby food and herbicides.

You may choose to apply for your trademark to be listed under multiple classes. If you plan on producing clothing and also operating retail stores to sell that clothing it would be prudent to register your trademark for both goods and services. You would protect the trademark on the clothing goods under Class 25: Clothing and Apparel Products and you would protect the trademark on the retails services under Class 35: Advertising, Business and Retail Services. You would be charged a registration fee for each class. But if you later decided to sell perfume using the same trademark, you would need to file a new trademark application under Class 3: Cosmetics and Cleaning Products to protect your trademark on those goods. You would be charged a fee for a completely new trademark application.

The fact that similar trademarks are in different classes does not guarantee that United States Patent and Trademark will grant registration if the two marks are confusingly similar. The system that the United States Patent and Trademark office uses to classify goods and services is helpful but it does not remove the requirement that a trademark is not confusingly similar to a trademark which is already registered. For instance potato chips are in Class 29: Meat and Processed Food Products and popcorn is in Class 30: Staple Food Products. If you wanted to register a trademark on your brand of popcorn and there already was a registered trademark on a brand of potato chips which was very similar to your trademark, the United States Patent and Trademark Office might deny a trademark application because it feels that there is a likelihood of confusion between the two snack foods. But if you wanted to register a trademark on your brand of popcorn and there already was a registered trademark in Class 42: Computer and Software Services and Scientific Services, it is unlikely there would be confusion and both trademarks could be registered.

If you choose the wrong class for your trademark you will have to apply again to register your trademark in the correct class. You cannot modify a trademark application that has already been granted to change the class of the trademark. Between the time that you realize that your trademark has the wrong classification and the time that you submit a new application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, a competitor could file an application to register a similar trademark and block your application. Of you could unwittingly be infringing on the registered trademark of a competitor because the competitors trademark in the correct class did not come up when the United States Patent and Trademark Office performed their trademark search in the wrong class. It is a good idea to have a trademark search performed by a trademark attorney when you first apply for trademark registration to help avoid applying for a trademark in the wrong class.

The class you chose for your trademark is an important decision that should be done with the assistance of an experienced trademark attorney.