Search keywords describing your product or service to find the correct NICE Classification class for trademark registration.
The NICE Classification is an international system used to categorise goods and services for the purpose of trademark registration. It divides all goods and services into 45 classes — classes 1 to 34 cover goods (such as chemicals, clothing, or furniture), and classes 35 to 45 cover services (such as advertising, education, or restaurant services). India, like most countries that are members of the Nice Agreement, uses this system through the Trade Marks Registry under the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM). When you file a trademark application in India, you must specify the correct class (or classes) that your goods or services fall under — filing in the wrong class can result in your mark not being protected for the goods or services you actually intended to cover.
Trademark protection is class-specific — registering your brand name in Class 25 (clothing) protects it for clothing, but not automatically for, say, Class 43 (restaurant services), even if you use the identical brand name for a restaurant. This is why well-known brands often hold multiple trademark registrations across different classes if they operate in more than one category. Filing in the wrong class, or missing a relevant class your business actually operates in, is one of the most common — and costly — mistakes made during self-filed trademark applications, since correcting it later generally requires a fresh application and additional fees.
Enter a keyword or short phrase describing your product or service — for example "clothing," "mobile app," "restaurant," or "cosmetics." The tool matches your description against common keywords associated with the most frequently used NICE classes and shows you the likely class or classes that apply, along with a brief description of what each class covers. This is a starting-point reference tool, not an official classification search — it draws from a curated list of common categories rather than the full official NICE Classification database.
It helps to understand the basic split: Classes 1-34 cover physical goods — everything from industrial chemicals (Class 1) to clothing (Class 25) to furniture (Class 20). Classes 35-45 cover services — advertising and retail (Class 35), financial services (Class 36), education (Class 41), restaurant and hospitality services (Class 43), and legal services (Class 45), among others. A business that both manufactures a product and sells it through its own branded retail operation may need to register in both a goods class and Class 35 (which covers retail/e-commerce services) to fully protect its brand across its actual business activities.
Once you have a general sense of the applicable class, the next essential step — which this tool does not perform — is a proper trademark availability search on the official IP India Trade Marks Registry public search portal, to check whether an identical or confusingly similar mark is already registered or pending in that class. Only after confirming availability should you proceed to file a trademark application (Form TM-A), either yourself or through a registered trademark attorney/agent, who can also help you draft the precise specification of goods or services within your chosen class to maximise protection.
No. This tool only helps identify which NICE classification class is likely relevant to your goods or service. It does not search the actual Trade Marks Registry database for existing conflicting marks.
There are 45 classes under the NICE Classification — classes 1 to 34 cover goods, and classes 35 to 45 cover services.
Yes, and many businesses need to, especially if they sell products (a goods class) and also provide retail or related services (often Class 35) under the same brand.
Your registration will only protect the goods/services actually covered by that class — if your real business falls under a different class, you may need to file a fresh, separate application, incurring additional fees and delay.
The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM) operates a public search portal on the IP India website where you can check existing and pending trademarks by class and keyword.
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