Trade mark classes in Singapore: how the Nice Classification works and how many classes you need

A trade mark is not registered for everything. It is registered for a list of goods or services, and each item on that list belongs to a class. The classes decide what your registration protects, what it costs, and which earlier marks IPOS will compare it with.

What the Nice Classification is

Singapore, like most countries, uses the Nice Classification, an international system administered by WIPO. It sorts all goods and services into 45 classes:

• Classes 1 to 34 are goods, from chemicals in Class 1 to tobacco products in Class 34.
• Classes 35 to 45 are services, from advertising and business services in Class 35 to legal, security and personal services in Class 45.

Each class has a heading that describes it in broad terms, an explanatory note, and an alphabetical list of individual goods or services. The classification is updated every January, and IPOS classifies an application under the version in force on its filing date.

A few classes come up again and again for Singapore businesses:

• Class 3: cosmetics, skincare and cleaning preparations
• Class 9: downloadable software and apps, electronics
• Class 25: clothing, footwear and headgear
• Class 30: coffee, tea, bread, pastries and confectionery
• Class 35: advertising, business management and retail services
• Class 41: education, training and entertainment
• Class 42: software as a service, IT and design services
• Class 43: restaurants, cafes, catering and accommodation

How to choose your classes

Start from your business, not from the list of classes. Write down what you sell or provide under the brand today, and what you have a real plan to offer in the next few years. Then place each item in its class.

Two rules keep the list honest. When you apply, you declare that you use the mark, or genuinely intend to use it, for the goods and services listed. And a registration that goes unused for five years after it is registered can be removed for non-use. Claiming everything "just in case" costs more and protects less than it seems.

Classes follow the nature of the goods or services, not your industry. A cafe's service is in Class 43, but the coffee beans it bags and sells are goods in Class 30. For each class, the question is whether the brand will actually be used there.

If you cannot afford every class at once, protect the core first: the goods or services that carry the brand today. Others can follow in a later application when the plans are firm.

Why the wording matters in Singapore

The class number is only half of it. The words you list under each class, called the specification, decide the scope of your protection. IPOS examines them: each item must be clear and correctly classified, and a vague or misclassified term draws an office action.

IPOS keeps a database of pre-approved descriptions. Wording taken entirely from it helps avoid objections, is processed faster, and carries a lower official fee. Where a business needs something the database does not cover, the wording has to be drafted with care so it is precise enough to be accepted.

Three other points catch people out:

• A class heading is not the whole class. IPOS's own example: "musical instruments" in Class 15 does not include music stands or piano strings, although both are in that class.
• You can narrow, but never widen. Once filed, the specification can be restricted, but items cannot be added and nor can a new class. New goods or services need a new application, with a later filing date.
• The wording decides the conflicts. IPOS compares your goods and services with those of earlier marks. Wording that is broader than your business invites conflicts you did not need; wording that is too narrow leaves gaps a competitor can use.

This is why drafting and harmonising your goods and services with IPOS's practice is part of our S$600 per class, not an extra. We draft from the pre-approved terms wherever they fit, and we check each term against what you actually do. Where your business needs wording outside the pre-approved terms, it is S$200 more per class.

Three common examples

A cafe brand. Cafe services in Class 43 and the coffee, cakes and pastries it sells in Class 30. Two classes: S$1,200 with us. Branded mugs (Class 21) can wait until there is a real plan to sell them.

An app. A fitness business with its own app might need Class 9 for the downloadable app, Class 42 for software provided online as a service, and Class 41 for the fitness instruction the app delivers. Three classes: S$1,800. Many software businesses ask whether they are in Class 9 or Class 42. Downloadable software is Class 9; software used online without downloading is Class 42. A business offering both usually needs both.

A clothing label. Clothing, footwear and headgear in Class 25, and retail services in Class 35 if the label runs its own online store or shop. Two classes: S$1,200. Bags (Class 18) or jewellery (Class 14) are added only if the label sells them or plans to.

How the number of classes drives the cost

IPOS charges its official fee per class, so the cost of any trade mark application rises with the number of classes. With JK Marcam the arithmetic is simple: S$600 per class, all-inclusive, covering the IPOS official fee, our professional fee, drafting and harmonisation of your goods and services, a full clearance search and registrability report with our written opinion, filing, monitoring and agent-on-record services. That price applies where the goods and services are fully taken from IPOS's pre-approved terms; where they are not, it is S$200 more per class.

Several classes can go into one Singapore application, so they share one filing date and move through examination together. A class added later is a new application with its own filing date.

The same classification is used in most countries, so a well-drafted Singapore specification also helps when you file overseas, directly or under the Madrid Protocol. Overseas fees are also charged per class, country by country.

Get the classes right before you file

The classes and the wording are settled before anything is filed, as part of the trade mark search and assessment that comes with every Singapore trade mark registration. If you are still deciding whether you need a trademark at all, or how it differs from your company name, see our guide on trade marks and ACRA company names.

Tell us what you sell or plan to sell, and we will tell you which classes you need, at no cost, with a free basic clearance search. Book a free consultation.

Questions

Written by the JK Marcam team. General information, not legal advice; IPOS practice and fees change, so check the date above.