Trademark class
What trademark class is classes in?
Classes falls in Class 41, education & entertainment, and depending on what exactly you sell it can also fall in Class 35 or Class 25 or Class 29.
Everything below is read from the USPTO's own list of accepted descriptions, not from an opinion about where it belongs.
The short answer
Searching the USPTO Trademark ID Manual for classes returns 129 accepted descriptions, and
most of them sit in Class 41. The manual is the list of identifications
the office has already approved, so wording taken from it is pre-approved and settles the class at the same time.
The class follows from the identification you write, so "what class am I in" is really "what exactly do you sell".
How the class system works covers the rest.
You teach, train, publish, coach, or provide entertainment, events, or media content.
81 accepted descriptions in the manual mention classes. For example:
- Conducting fitness classes
- Conducting pilates classes
- Physical fitness conditioning classes
- Arranging and conducting of fitness classes
- Arranging and conducting of prenatal classes
- On-line educational parental training classes
- Providing exercise classes in the field of dance
- Providing classroom instruction at the primary level
- Providing classroom instruction at the university level
- Conducting fitness classes as part of a wellness program
- Providing exercise classes in the field of {specify, e.g., yoga, boxing, etc.}
- Educational services, namely, conducting chess classes by means of a chess club
- Education services, namely, providing classes and instruction in the field of dance
- Educational services, namely, providing classes in the field of health and nutrition
You run a store, sell advertising or marketing, or provide business and office services.
6 accepted descriptions in the manual mention classes. For example:
- Classified advertising services
- Providing a website featuring on-line classified advertisements
- Providing an on-line searchable database featuring classified ad listings and employment opportunities
- Providing and updating a financial index of securities values and classification, analysis, and reporting thereof
- Providing an online directory information service featuring information regarding vehicles in the nature of classified advertisements
- Providing on-line registration services for {indicate event or function, e.g., sports tournament, instructional classes}[not domain names]
Clothes, shoes, or hats.
6 accepted descriptions in the manual mention classes. For example:
- Apparel for nursing mothers, namely, {indicate specific items NOTE: Nursing covers are classified in Class 24.}
- T-shirts for {specify wearer, e.g., babies, adults, children, women, men. NOTE: Animal clothing is classified in Class 18.}
- Hooded sweatshirts for {specify wearer, e.g., babies, adults, children, women, men. NOTE: Animal clothing is classified in Class 18.}
- Jumpers in the nature of coveralls for {specify wearer, e.g., babies, children, etc. NOTE: Animal clothing is classified in Class 18.}
- Clothing jackets for {specify wearer, e.g., babies, adults, children, women, men, etc. NOTE: Animal clothing is classified in Class 18.}
- Jumpers in the nature of coveralls treated with fire and heat retardants for {specify wearer, e.g., babies, children, etc. NOTE: Animal clothing is classified in Class 18.}
Meat, dairy, eggs, snacks, or other prepared and preserved foods.
6 accepted descriptions in the manual mention classes. For example:
- Dips [excluding salsa and other sauces and Class 30 based dips such as chocolate or caramel used as dips]
- Snack dips [excluding salsa and other sauces and Class 30 based dips such as chocolate or caramel used as dips]
- Snack food dips [excluding salsa and other sauces and Class 30 based dips such as chocolate or caramel used as dips]
- Non-fat, low-carbohydrate, high-protein dairy-based mix for making non-dessert foods, namely, {specify Class 29 food items}
- Dip mixes [excluding those for making salsa and other sauces and Class 30 based dips such as chocolate or caramel used as dips]
- Salads, namely, {specify type, e.g., garden salads, fruit salads, vegetable salads, etc.} [Note that pasta and rice salads are in Class 30]
Classes appears in 4 classes because what you make, what it is made of and the
service of selling it are separate classes. Pick the descriptions above that match what you actually do.
Classes is a service, so it sits in Classes 35 to 45. Software that delivers a service is often Class 9 or
Class 42 as well.
Education and entertainment: music education and personal fitness training are here. Recordings are goods, so downloadable podcasts and downloadable music are both Class 9.
The class decides what a registration covers; it does not decide whether the name is available. Relatedness is
judged on the identifications, so a conflict can sit in a class you never looked at:
the same name in a different industry.
Check whether your name is clear for classes
Searches the live USPTO register, including sound-alike and meaning-alike names. First search $2, then $5.
Other things in Class 41
Common questions
What trademark class is classes in?
Classes sits in Class 41, education & entertainment. That is where the USPTO's own ID Manual puts it: 81 accepted descriptions mentioning classes fall in Class 41. Depending on exactly what you sell it can also fall in Class 35 or Class 25 or Class 29.
Do I have to file in more than one class?
You file in every class you actually use the mark in, and the USPTO charges its fee per class. Selling a product and also running an online store for it is two classes, not one. Filing in classes you do not use is worse than filing in too few: an application has to be supported by real use or a genuine intent to use.
Does the class decide whether my name is available?
No. The class decides what a registration covers. Availability turns on whether someone already holds a similar mark for related goods, and relatedness is judged on what the identifications say rather than on the class number, so marks in different classes can still conflict.
Not what you sell? Search the class finder for your own wording, or
browse all 45 classes.