AS | Ankit Sarawagi|Founder, CFOmatrix·June 2026·11 min read | Updated Jun 2026 |
- There are 45 trademark classes under the NICE Classification: classes 1 to 34 are goods and classes 35 to 45 are services.
- India adopted the NICE Classification on 7 September 2019, aligning it with most of the world.
- The government fee is charged per class, per mark (about ₹4,500 per class for individuals, startups and MSMEs; ₹9,000 for others), so more classes means more cost.
- A multi-class application is allowed in one TM-A form, but you still pay the fee for each class.
- A D2C apparel brand usually needs Class 25 (clothing) plus Class 35 (retail of those goods). Use the free EUIPO TMclass tool to find your class.
| 45 Trademark classes under the NICE Classification in India | 1-34 / 35-45 Goods classes (1 to 34) and service classes (35 to 45) | ₹4,500 Per class e-filing fee for individuals, startups and MSMEs |
To keep this concrete we will follow one brand: Looma, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) apparel label that designs and sells its own t-shirts, hoodies and caps through its website and an online store. We will use Looma to show why one product often needs protection in more than one class.
What Is Trademark Classification?
Trademark classification is the system that sorts every kind of good and service into 45 classes, so that a trademark application protects your brand for the specific products you actually sell. India uses the NICE Classification, the international standard maintained under the Nice Agreement and updated periodically, which India formally adopted on 7 September 2019.
A trademark is never registered “for everything.” It is registered for the goods or services named in a class. So the first decision in any filing is not the logo or the name; it is choosing the correct class (or classes) that describe your business.
The split is simple: classes 1 to 34 are goods (physical products you make or sell) and classes 35 to 45 are services (things you do for customers). India follows the same 45-class framework used by most countries, which makes filing abroad later much easier.
“NICE” is not an opinion of quality. It stands for the Nice Agreement (signed in Nice, France) and refers to the international classification of goods and services. When the Indian Registry asks for your “class,” it means your NICE class.
All 45 Trademark Classes in India: The Full List
Here are all 45 NICE classes with a short, plain-English description of what each covers. Classes 1 to 34 are goods; classes 35 to 45 are services. This is a quick guide only: always confirm the exact wording of goods and services on the official tools before you file.
Goods: Classes 1 to 34
| Class | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 1 | Chemicals for industry, science and agriculture; unprocessed resins and plastics |
| 2 | Paints, varnishes, lacquers, colourants and raw natural resins |
| 3 | Cosmetics, soaps, perfumery, hair lotions and non-medicated toiletries |
| 4 | Industrial oils and greases, lubricants, fuels and candles |
| 5 | Pharmaceuticals, medical and veterinary preparations, supplements and sanitary products |
| 6 | Common metals and their alloys, metal building materials and hardware |
| 7 | Machines, machine tools, motors and engines (not for land vehicles) |
| 8 | Hand tools and implements, cutlery, razors |
| 9 | Computers, software, electronics, mobile apps and scientific apparatus |
| 10 | Surgical, medical, dental and veterinary apparatus and instruments |
| 11 | Apparatus for lighting, heating, cooking, refrigerating and water supply |
| 12 | Vehicles and apparatus for movement by land, air or water |
| 13 | Firearms, ammunition, explosives and fireworks |
| 14 | Precious metals, jewellery, precious stones and horological instruments (watches and clocks) |
| 15 | Musical instruments |
| 16 | Paper, stationery, printed matter, books and packaging materials of paper |
| 17 | Rubber, plastics, insulating materials and flexible non-metal pipes |
| 18 | Leather goods, bags, luggage, umbrellas and saddlery |
| 19 | Non-metallic building materials |
| 20 | Furniture, mirrors, picture frames and goods of wood or plastic |
| 21 | Household and kitchen utensils, containers, glassware and crockery |
| 22 | Ropes, nets, tents, sacks and raw fibrous textile materials |
| 23 | Yarns and threads for textile use |
| 24 | Textiles, fabrics, bed and table covers |
| 25 | Clothing, footwear and headgear |
| 26 | Lace, ribbons, buttons, pins, needles and artificial flowers |
| 27 | Carpets, rugs, mats and wall and floor coverings |
| 28 | Games, toys, sporting articles and decorations for Christmas trees |
| 29 | Meat, fish, poultry, dairy, oils, preserved and processed foods |
| 30 | Coffee, tea, spices, flour, bread, confectionery and sauces |
| 31 | Raw agricultural products, fresh fruits and vegetables, live animals and plants |
| 32 | Beers, mineral waters, soft drinks and non-alcoholic beverages |
| 33 | Alcoholic beverages except beers |
| 34 | Tobacco, smokers articles and matches |
Services: Classes 35 to 45
| Class | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 35 | Advertising, business management, retail and office functions (includes running a shop or online store) |
| 36 | Financial, insurance, banking, monetary and real estate services |
| 37 | Construction, installation, repair and maintenance services |
| 38 | Telecommunications services |
| 39 | Transport, packaging, storage and travel arrangement |
| 40 | Treatment and processing of materials |
| 41 | Education, training, entertainment and sporting and cultural activities |
| 42 | Scientific and technological services, software development and IT |
| 43 | Food and drink services, restaurants and temporary accommodation |
| 44 | Medical, veterinary, hygienic, beauty and agriculture services |
| 45 | Legal, security and personal and social services |
If you can hold it, it is a good (classes 1 to 34). If you do it for someone, it is a service (classes 35 to 45). Class 35 is the one founders forget: it covers retail and running a shop or online store.
Goods Classes vs Service Classes: Why the Split Matters
The single most useful idea in trademark classification is the line between goods (classes 1 to 34) and services (classes 35 to 45). The same brand can be both, and protection in one does not automatically cover the other.
Take a brand that makes a physical product and also sells it directly to consumers. The product itself sits in a goods class. But the activity of selling it, the retail, the online store, the marketing, sits in Class 35. These are two different rights, and a competitor could in theory register your name for the activity you did not cover.
This is why service businesses and product businesses must read the list differently. A SaaS company is mostly Class 42 (software and IT) and sometimes Class 9 (downloadable software). A restaurant is Class 43. A clinic is Class 44. A consultancy may be Class 35 or 36. The class follows what you do, not what industry sounds closest.
How to Pick the Right Trademark Class
To pick the right class, list exactly what you make and what you do for customers, then map each item to a class using an official tool. The reliable, free way to do this is the EUIPO TMclass tool, which lets you type a term and see the suggested class, and importantly it includes the Indian Trade Marks Office database so the results match India.
A simple, repeatable method:
- Write a plain-language list of every product you sell and every service you provide. Be specific: “cotton t-shirts,” “online retail store,” “logo design.”
- Search each item in TMclass (or the Indian Registry classification search) and note the suggested class number.
- Separate goods from services. A single brand frequently needs at least one goods class and one service class.
- List the classes you will file in and check the per-class fee so you know the total cost before you start.
Do not pad your application with classes you “might” use one day. Each extra class costs a full fee and, if you never use the mark in that class, it can be challenged for non-use. File where you genuinely sell today, plus the very next class on your real roadmap.
Fees Are Per Class, and Multi-Class Filing
The government filing fee in India is charged per class, per mark, not per application. So if you file the same brand in three classes, you pay the per-class fee three times. The numbers below are e-filing fees; always verify the current figures on ipindia.gov.in.
| Applicant type | Fee per class (e-filing) |
|---|---|
| Individual, DPIIT-recognised Startup, or Small Enterprise (Udyam / MSME) | ₹4,500 per class |
| Others (companies, LLPs, larger entities) | ₹9,000 per class |
India allows a multi-class application: you can cover several classes under a single TM-A form. That keeps the paperwork together and is convenient, but it does not reduce the cost. You still pay the government fee separately for each class included. Multi-class is about tidiness, not a discount.
A DPIIT-recognised startup filing in two classes pays roughly ₹4,500 × 2 = ₹9,000 in government fees (plus any professional fee if an attorney files). The same two classes for a company would be about ₹9,000 × 2 = ₹18,000. This is why the individual, startup and MSME concession (around a 50% saving) is worth claiming with your Udyam or DPIIT certificate.
Worked Example: A D2C Apparel Brand (Class 25 + Class 35)
A direct-to-consumer apparel brand is the classic case of one business needing two classes. Looma designs and sells its own clothing, so its trademark protection cannot stop at the product alone.
- Class 25 (goods): the t-shirts, hoodies and caps themselves. This protects the Looma name and logo on the clothing.
- Class 35 (services): running its own online store and the retail and advertising of those clothes. This protects Looma as the name of the shop and the brand it markets under.
If Looma filed only in Class 25, a rival could try to register “Looma” for an online clothing store in Class 35 and operate a marketplace under the same name. Filing in both classes closes that gap. For a DPIIT-recognised startup, that is about ₹4,500 in each class, and both can sit in a single multi-class TM-A application.
Think of classes as the perimeter of your brand. The question is not “which one class describes us best,” but “where can a competitor legally use our name if we leave it open.” For most D2C and product-plus-platform businesses, that means at least one goods class and Class 35.
The Cost of Wrong Classification
Filing in the wrong class is expensive because you usually cannot just move a mark to the correct class after filing. You have to file a fresh application in the right class and pay the fee again, and you may lose the earlier filing date (your priority). The first to file in a class generally has the stronger claim, so a lost date can matter.
The worse outcome is a silent gap: your registration looks valid, but it does not cover what you actually sell. You feel protected, keep building the brand, and only discover the gap when a competitor exploits the uncovered class. By then, the cleanest fix may already be blocked.
Do not assume a broad “class heading” covers everything inside it. The Registry looks at the specific goods and services you list, not just the class number. Describe what you actually sell, and confirm wording on TMclass or the Indian Registry tool before filing.
“Choosing the trademark class is not paperwork. It is deciding the exact shape of the brand you are protecting, and where you are leaving the door open.”
Ankit Sarawagi, CFOmatrixFrequently Asked Questions
What is trademark classification in India?
Trademark classification is the system of sorting goods and services into 45 classes so that a trademark application protects the mark for the right products. India uses the NICE Classification (the international system maintained under the Nice Agreement), which it adopted on 7 September 2019. Classes 1 to 34 cover goods and classes 35 to 45 cover services. You must file your mark in every class that matches what you actually sell.
How many trademark classes are there in India?
There are 45 trademark classes in India under the NICE Classification. Classes 1 to 34 are for goods (physical products) and classes 35 to 45 are for services. India follows the same 45-class structure used by most countries worldwide.
Are trademark fees charged per class in India?
Yes. The government filing fee is charged per class, per mark. For e-filing it is ₹4,500 per class for an Individual, a DPIIT-recognised Startup or a Small Enterprise (Udyam or MSME registered), and ₹9,000 per class for others such as companies and LLPs. So protecting your mark in three classes costs three times the per-class fee. Always verify current fees on ipindia.gov.in.
Can I file a trademark in more than one class at once?
Yes. India allows multi-class applications, so you can cover several classes under a single TM-A application. You still pay the government fee separately for each class. Filing in one application keeps the paperwork together, but it does not reduce the per-class fee.
What trademark class is clothing in India?
Clothing, footwear and headgear fall in Class 25. But if you also sell those clothes through your own store or online shop under the same brand, the retail or e-commerce activity sits in Class 35 (advertising and business, which includes retail). A typical direct-to-consumer apparel brand should consider filing in both Class 25 and Class 35.
How do I find the right trademark class for my business?
Start by listing exactly what you make and what you do for customers, then map each item to a class. Use the free EUIPO TMclass tool, which lets you search a term and see the suggested class and includes the Indian Trade Marks Office database. Remember to separate the goods you sell (classes 1 to 34) from the services you provide (classes 35 to 45), because the brand often needs protection in both.
What happens if I file in the wrong trademark class?
If you file in the wrong class your registration may not protect the goods or services you actually sell, leaving a gap a competitor can exploit. You usually cannot simply move a mark to another class after filing; you have to file a fresh application in the correct class and pay the fee again, and you may lose your earlier priority date. Getting the class right at the start is far cheaper than fixing it later.
Class descriptions are simplified summaries of the NICE Classification for guidance only and are not the official wording. This is general information, not legal advice. Trademark rules and government fees change, so confirm the current class scope and fees on the official site, ipindia.gov.in, or with a qualified trademark professional before you file.
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AS | Founder, CFOmatrix | Finance Strategy & Equity Compliance CFOmatrix is a knowledge platform focused on how finance actually works inside growing companies. Every insight is shaped by real operating experience across startups and growth-stage companies, including cross-border setups. |