What is the Nice Classification?

The Nice Classification is an international system of 45 classes — 34 for goods and 11 for services — used to categorize goods and services in trademark applications. It is administered under the Nice Agreement and used by the USPTO, EUIPO, WIPO, and most national offices.

Which classes are goods and which are services?

Classes 1 through 34 cover goods, and classes 35 through 45 cover services. For example, Class 25 is clothing (goods) and Class 35 is advertising and business services (services). Many trademarks are filed in multiple classes.

Can one trademark be in multiple classes?

Yes. A single mark can be registered across multiple classes, but most offices charge a separate fee per class. Choosing only the classes that match your actual goods and services keeps filing costs down and avoids non-use cancellation risk.

Are these the official acceptable identifications?

The examples here are illustrative starting points, not the complete official list. The USPTO maintains the ID Manual of pre-approved identifications, and other offices have their own. Always confirm exact wording against the relevant office's accepted-identifications database.

How do I pick the right class for a new product?

Identify the core nature of the offering — a physical good versus a service — then search the heading that best describes it. Borderline products (like downloadable software versus software-as-a-service) can fall in different classes, so check both goods and service classes.

What is the Trademark Nice Classification Lookup?

Search the 45 Nice Classification classes by keyword or number to find class headings, whether a class covers goods or services, and example acceptable identifications for US and international trademark applications. IP attorneys and brand owners use it to draft goods-and-services recitations. It runs free in your browser on Gera Tools, with nothing uploaded.

Trademark Nice Classification Lookup

Name: Trademark Nice Classification Lookup
Creator: Gera Tools
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Every trademark application must list its goods and services in one or more of the 45 Nice classes. This lookup lets you search those classes by keyword or number, see the official class heading, whether the class covers goods or services, and example acceptable identifications to anchor your recitation.

How it works

The Nice Classification splits all goods and services into 45 classes. Classes 1–34 are goods and classes 35–45 are services. This tool filters the embedded class table by your search term, matching against the class number, heading, and example identifications:

matches = classes where (
  number === query OR
  heading contains query OR
  any example contains query
)

Each result shows the heading and a few representative acceptable identifications to help you draft wording.

The 45 classes at a glance

Goods (Classes 1–34): Classes 1–5 cover chemicals, paints, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Classes 6–11 cover metals, tools, and machinery. Classes 12–14 cover vehicles, transport, and jewellery. Classes 15–21 cover musical instruments, paper goods, furniture, and housewares. Classes 22–27 cover textiles, floor coverings, and games. Classes 28–33 cover toys, sporting goods, food, and beverages. Class 34 covers tobacco and smoking articles.

Services (Classes 35–45): Class 35 is advertising and business services. Class 36 is insurance and financial services. Class 37 is construction and repair. Class 38 is telecommunications. Class 39 is transport and storage. Class 40 is treatment of materials. Class 41 is education and entertainment. Class 42 is technology, scientific, and SaaS. Class 43 is food and accommodation. Class 44 is medical and veterinary. Class 45 is legal and security services.

The software and tech split that trips most applicants

Searching “software” surfaces two classes that many technology filers need to navigate together:

Class 9 covers computer software as a good — downloadable apps, operating system software, video games distributed as files or physical media. The identifier wording typically names the function: “downloadable computer software for managing project tasks.”

Class 42 covers software as a service — hosted platforms, SaaS applications, software development services, API services, cloud computing. A product that runs in a browser and charges a subscription almost certainly belongs in Class 42. Wording here typically reads “software as a service (SaaS) for managing project tasks.”

If you distribute both a downloadable desktop app and a cloud-hosted version of the same product, you likely need both classes.

Why the acceptable identification wording matters

Trademark offices require that goods and services be described with particularity. The USPTO’s Trademark ID Manual maintains a database of pre-approved identifications. Using an accepted identification speeds examination and reduces the likelihood of an office action. This tool surfaces example identifications, not the full official database — always verify the exact wording with the relevant office before filing.

Overly broad identifications (like “software” alone) are routinely rejected. Overly narrow ones limit the scope of protection. The practice is to be specific enough to be accepted but broad enough to cover the product’s natural extensions.

Multi-class strategy

Filing in multiple classes is legitimate and often necessary, but each class has its own fee and creates an independent obligation to demonstrate use. Filing in a class where you have no genuine use opens you to cancellation proceedings. The principle is to file in every class your current or genuine planned goods and services touch, and no more.

Example and tips

Searching “software” surfaces Class 9 (downloadable software, as goods) and Class 42 (software-as-a-service and software development, as services), which is exactly the split many tech filers must navigate — a downloadable app belongs in Class 9, while a hosted SaaS platform belongs in Class 42. File in every class your actual offering touches, but no more, because each class carries its own fee and its own non-use cancellation exposure.