Trademark Classes in India — Full List & How to Choose

India follows the NICE Classification, an international system that sorts goods and services into forty-five classes. Trademark protection is granted class by class, so the classes you select define the boundaries of your rights. Choose too narrowly and a competitor can lawfully use your brand on adjacent products; choose too broadly and you pay for protection you cannot defend and invite objections and non-use challenges.

How the classification works

Classes 1 to 34 cover goods. Classes 35 to 45 cover services. Each class has a heading describing its general scope and a detailed alphabetical list of the items falling within it. Two products that seem related in commerce can sit in different classes, and two unrelated products can share one — the system follows the nature and function of the goods, not the market you think you are in.

A single application can cover multiple classes, but the government fee is charged per class per mark. Filing in four classes costs four times the single-class fee.

Goods classes — the ones most businesses need

• Class 3 — cosmetics, soaps, perfumery, hair and skin preparations, cleaning preparations.
• Class 5 — pharmaceuticals, medical and veterinary preparations, dietary supplements, sanitary preparations.
• Class 9 — computer software and hardware, downloadable apps, electronic devices, eyewear, recorded content. The default class for most technology products.
• Class 16 — paper, printed matter, stationery, books, packaging materials.
• Class 18 — leather goods, bags, luggage, wallets, umbrellas.
• Class 25 — clothing, footwear and headgear. The apparel class.
• Class 29 — meat, fish, poultry, preserved and processed fruit and vegetables, dairy, edible oils.
• Class 30 — coffee, tea, flour, bread, confectionery, spices, sauces, ready-to-eat preparations.
• Class 32 — beers, mineral waters, non-alcoholic beverages, fruit juices.
• Class 33 — alcoholic beverages other than beer.

Service classes

• Class 35 — advertising, business management, retail and wholesale services, e-commerce marketplace services, HR and recruitment. The busiest and most frequently misused class.
• Class 36 — insurance, financial and monetary affairs, real estate services.
• Class 37 — building construction, installation, repair and maintenance.
• Class 38 — telecommunications, broadcasting, data transmission.
• Class 39 — transport, packaging and storage of goods, travel arrangement, logistics.
• Class 41 — education, training, entertainment, sporting and cultural activities, publishing.
• Class 42 — scientific and technological services, software as a service, software design and development, IT consultancy, industrial research.
• Class 43 — restaurants, catering, hotels and temporary accommodation.
• Class 44 — medical, veterinary, hygiene and beauty care, agriculture services.
• Class 45 — legal services, security services, personal and social services.

How to choose your classes

Start with what you actually sell today, then add what you have concrete plans to sell within the foreseeable future. Work through three questions.

What is the physical product or the service being rendered? That gives you the primary class. How is it delivered? A software product downloaded by the user sits in Class 9; the same functionality delivered as a hosted subscription is a Class 42 service, and many SaaS businesses correctly file in both. Do you also sell other people’s goods? Retail and marketplace activity is a Class 35 service, distinct from the classes covering the goods themselves.

Combinations that commonly go together

• SaaS or app business — Class 9 for the downloadable software, Class 42 for the hosted service, and Class 35 if you also provide business or marketplace services.
• Fashion or D2C apparel brand — Class 25 for the clothing, Class 35 for retail, and Class 18 if bags or leather accessories are in range.
• Restaurant or cloud kitchen — Class 43 for the restaurant service, plus Class 29, 30 or 32 for any packaged food or beverage sold under the brand.
• Cosmetics brand — Class 3 for the products, Class 35 for retail, and Class 44 if you also operate salons or clinics.
• Education business — Class 41 for training and courses, Class 9 for recorded content, Class 42 if there is a platform.
• Financial services firm — Class 36 for the services, Class 35 for business consultancy, Class 9 or 42 for any app.

Mistakes that cost money

• Filing only in the goods class and forgetting Class 35. Retail is a separate service. Brands that sell direct routinely need it.
• Filing in Class 35 alone for a product business. This protects the retail service, not the product. It is a common and expensive misunderstanding.
• Copying a competitor’s class list without checking that your goods actually match.
• Using the bare class heading as your specification. Registries increasingly expect a specific list of goods or services; vague specifications attract objections and are weaker in enforcement.
• Filing defensively across many unrelated classes. Marks unused in a class for a continuous statutory period become vulnerable to cancellation for non-use, so speculative breadth is not permanent protection.
• Ignoring similar goods in other classes. Confusion is assessed on similarity of goods, not just on class number — a mark in a different class can still block you.

Getting the specification right

Within the chosen class, draft the specification to describe your goods or services precisely. “Computer software” is weak and broad; “computer software for inventory management in the retail sector” is specific and defensible. A well-drafted specification reduces the chance of an examination objection, narrows the ground on which someone can oppose you, and makes enforcement cleaner if you ever have to assert the mark.

Run a search across all shortlisted classes before filing, since a conflicting mark in any one of them will hold up the whole application. Our team handles class selection, searching and filing as part of the trademark registration process.

Frequently asked questions

How many classes should I register in?

As many as your current business genuinely occupies, plus any you will realistically enter soon. For most small businesses that is one to three. Cost rises per class, and unused classes become vulnerable to non-use cancellation, so breadth for its own sake is poor value.

Can I add a class to an existing registration later?

No. A registration cannot be extended to a new class. You file a fresh application for the additional class, which takes its own filing date — meaning you lose the priority of the original filing for those goods.

Does registering in one class stop others using my name in another?

Generally no. Rights are class-specific, which is why the same word can be a registered mark for several unrelated businesses. The exception is a well-known mark, which enjoys protection across classes. Very similar goods in adjacent classes may also support an objection.

What is the difference between Class 9 and Class 42 for software?

Class 9 covers software as a product — downloaded, installed or supplied on media. Class 42 covers software as a service, hosted and accessed remotely, along with design and development services. Most modern software businesses file in both because they do both.