Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the Nice Classification (NCL)?
2. What is the Nice Agreement?
3. What are the obligations of the countries party to the Nice Agreement?
4. What are the advantages of applying the NCL?
5. Which are the contracting States of the Nice Agreement?
6. How many trademark offices use the NCL?
7. What is the structure of the NCL?
8. Is it updated?
9. How is it published?
10. Where can I order it?

What is the Nice Classification (NCL)?

It is an International classification system used to classify goods and services for the purposes of the registration of marks.

What is the Nice Agreement?

The Nice Agreement is the WIPO-administered multilateral treaty that establishes the Nice Classification. It was signed on June 15, 1957 and entered into force on April 8, 1961. It was revised in Stockholm on July 14, 1967, and in Geneva on May 13, 1977 and modified on September 28, 1979.

What are the obligations of the countries party to the Nice Agreement?

The competent offices of the countries party to the Nice Agreement are required to include in the official documents and publications concerning the registration of marks the numbers of the classes to which the goods and services for which the mark is registered belong.

What are the advantages of applying the NCL?

Use of the Nice Classification by the competent trademark offices has the advantage of filing trademark registration applications with reference to a single classification system. The drafting of applications is thereby greatly simplified as the goods and services to which a given mark applies will be classified in the same way in all countries that have adopted the Classification. Moreover, as the Classification exists in several languages, applying the indications of goods and services of the alphabetical list can save applicants a considerable amount of translation work when filing a list of goods and services in a language other than that of the office of origin.

Which are the contracting States of the Nice Agreement?

In January 2012, 83 States were party to the Nice Agreement. The list of contracting parties is regularly updated.

How many trademark offices use the NCL?

Around 150 offices in the world apply the Nice Classification. This number includes member as well as non-member countries. In addition, four regional organizations, namely the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), the Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property (BOIP) and the European Union Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM), use the Nice Classification. The International Bureau of WIPO also applies the Nice Classification in the framework of the Madrid System for the international registration of marks.

What is the structure of the NCL?

The Nice Classification consists of a list of classes together with explanatory notes and an alphabetical list of goods and services. There are 34 classes of goods and 11 classes of services. The class headings describe in very broad terms the nature of the goods or services contained in each class. The explanatory notes of a given class describe in greater detail the type of product or service included in that class. The most detailed level of the Classification is the alphabetical list which contains around 10,000 indications of goods and 1,000 indications of services.

Is the NCL updated?

In order to keep the Nice Classification up to date, it is continuously revised and a new edition is published every five years. The revision is carried out by the Committee of Experts set up under the Nice Agreement. All States party to the Agreement are members of the Committee of Experts.

How is the NCL published?

The authentic versions of the Nice Classification (in English and French) are published by WIPO. The paper publication comprises two parts. Part I contains a list of goods and services set out in the alphabetical order of goods on one side and of services on the other side. Part II contains the list of goods and services ordered by classes, in alphabetical order within each class. There is also a publication containing a bilingual (English/French) alphabetical list. The Nice Classification is also consultable online.

Where can I order the NCL?

By mail:
World Intellectual Property Organization
Outreach Services Section
34, ch. des Colombettes
Case postale 18
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland

Telephone: +41 22 338 91 11
Fax: +41 22 740 18 12

By E-mail: publications.mail@wipo.int
 
At the WIPO electronic bookshop