Trademarks are registered by class. The Nice Classification divides goods into classes 1 to 34 and services into classes 35 to 45, and CNIPA further splits every class into numbered sub-classes. Choose the wrong class and the registration will not protect the business it was meant for. These are the six classes that applicants get wrong most often.
Class 35: advertising and retail services
Many companies assume that selling products online or in shops requires class 35. In China, class 35 covers advertising and "sales promotion for others". A company selling its own products does not need it, but franchise operators, marketplaces and e-commerce agencies do.
Classes 9 and 42: software
Software as a product sits in class 9; software development and SaaS services sit in class 42. An app business usually needs both.
Classes 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33: food and drink
Processed meat, eggs, dairy and preserved fruit are in class 29; coffee, tea, pastry and condiments in class 30; fresh fruit and vegetables in class 31; non-alcoholic drinks and beer in class 32; other alcoholic beverages in class 33. A bubble-tea brand may need both class 30 and class 32.
Classes 25, 18 and 14: fashion
Clothing, footwear and headgear are class 25; bags and leather goods class 18; jewellery and watches class 14. A fashion brand should cover at least these three.
Class 43: restaurants
Restaurants, cafés and hotels are class 43, not class 30 or 35. A restaurant brand that also sells packaged food needs class 29 or 30 as well.
Classes 41 and 45: education and legal services
Training, education and cultural events are class 41; legal services and intellectual property agency services are class 45.
Why sub-classes matter in China
CNIPA divides each class into sub-classes (for example 2501 to 2513 in class 25). Goods in different sub-classes of the same class are usually not treated as similar, so a registration in one sub-class does not block a later application in another. The specification should be designed sub-class by sub-class, with at least one standard item in every sub-class that matters to the business.
The full 45-class list with Chinese sub-class tables is in our Nice classification tables.
J&C Intellectual Property Agency (JCIPO), founded in 2008, is a CNIPA-recorded trademark agency and a member of the China Trademark Association. We draft specifications for foreign applicants and file in all 45 classes, see our trademark services. Patent filings are handled through an affiliated patent agency.
