International class 37

Trademark Class 37: Construction & repair

You build, install, clean, or repair things like buildings, vehicles, or equipment.

The USPTO sorts every product and service into one of 45 international classes. A trademark is registered class by class, for what you actually sell, which is why the same word can be registered by different owners in different classes. Class 37 is the class for businesses where you build, install, clean, or repair things like buildings, vehicles, or equipment.

What class 37 covers

Common services in this class:

Real USPTO descriptions in class 37

The USPTO keeps a list of descriptions it has already accepted, called the Trademark ID Manual. It holds 2,699 for class 37, and these are the ones that match what businesses in this class most often sell. Every line below is the USPTO's exact wording. If you describe your services in the manual's words, the description is already approved, which is the easiest way to avoid an objection to it.

The usual mistake with class 37

Construction, installation and repair, automobile repair included. Designing the building is a different service: architectural design is Class 42. The materials are goods, so lumber is Class 19.

Classes often filed alongside it

A business in class 37 often needs these classes too, or finds its services mistaken for theirs. This is our own reading of how businesses file, not an official USPTO list.

Class 19 · Building materialsClass 42 · Tech & software servicesClass 40 · Manufacturing & processing

How the class affects your application

The class is not a category you choose for convenience. It follows from the identification of services you write, and that description is what your registration actually covers. Write it too narrowly and you protect less than you meant to. Write it too broadly and you have a different problem, because you must really be using the mark on everything you list.

The USPTO charges its filing fee for each class, so every extra class adds to the cost. The fees change from time to time, so check the current schedule on uspto.gov rather than trusting a number on a blog, including ours.

Searching a name in class 37

Picking the class is the easy half. The harder half is whether someone already holds a similar mark for related services. An examiner can refuse a mark that only resembles an earlier one. It does not have to be an exact match.

This is where the class number misleads people most. Relatedness is judged on what the identifications actually say, not on whether two marks sit in the same class. Genuinely related services are routinely split across classes, and a single class often holds services that have nothing to do with each other. A search that looks only inside class 37 can miss conflicts that an examiner would find. Two of our guides explain how that judgment is made: the different-industry question and how similar is too similar.

Common questions about class 37

What is trademark class 37?

Class 37 is the international (Nice) class for businesses where you build, install, clean, or repair things like buildings, vehicles, or equipment. It is one of 45 classes, and a U.S. trademark application has to name the class or classes that match what you actually sell.

What does class 37 cover?

Typical services include building, contracting, plumbing, electrical, vehicle and appliance repair. The USPTO lists 2,699 accepted descriptions for this class in its Trademark ID Manual, and the examples on this page come from that list.

How much does it cost to file in class 37?

The USPTO charges its filing fee for each class, so two classes cost twice as much as one. Fees change, so check the current fee schedule on uspto.gov rather than a figure quoted anywhere else.

Do I need more than one class?

Often, yes. You file in every class that matches what you actually sell. You cannot add a class just for extra protection, because you have to be using the mark in every class you claim.

Check a name in class 37 Searches the live USPTO register for identical marks, sound-alikes and meaning-alikes. First search $2.

What class 37 covers, in the words people use

Each of these is a thing the USPTO's own manual puts in Class 37, with the accepted descriptions behind it.

auto repaircleaning serviceconstructioninstallationmaintenancerestoration
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Free tools: class finder · deadline calculator · what a report looks like · how to trademark a name © LaunchTime IP · Software, not a law firm. General information about U.S. trademark law and the Nice Classification, not legal advice. Class lists are a guide: the USPTO decides how your goods are classified from the identification you file.