International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks under the Nice Agreement

Overview

 

What is the Nice Classification?

The Nice Classification consists of a classification of goods and services for the purposes of registering trademarks and service marks.

Origin of the Nice Classification

The Nice Classification is based on a multilateral treaty administered by WIPO. This treaty is called the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks, which was concluded in 1957. This Classification is commonly referred to as the Nice Classification. The Nice Agreement is open to States party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.

How is it applied?

The trademark offices of the contracting States of the Nice Agreement are required to include in the official documents and publications the numbers of the classes of goods and/or services.

Advantages and uniqueness of the Nice Classification

Use of the Nice Classification by national offices has the advantage of filing applications with reference to a single classification system. The preparation 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 it. Furthermore, the fact that the Nice Classification exists in several languages saves applicants a considerable amount of work when they have to file a list of goods and services in a language other than that of the country of origin of the mark.

Is it used in many countries?

In January 2009, 83 States were party to the Nice Agreement. They have adopted and apply the Nice Classification for the purposes of the registration of marks. Moreover, the trademark offices of 65 non-member countries, four organizations and the International Bureau of WIPO actually use the Nice Classification.

What is the structure of the Nice Classification?

The Nice Classification comprises the Class Headings accompanied by Explanatory Notes and an Alphabetical List of Goods and Services, with the class in which each product or service is placed. The Class Headings describe in very broad terms the nature of the goods or services contained in each of the 34 classes of goods and 11 classes of services. They are accompanied, where appropriate, by Explanatory Notes which describe in greater detail the type of product or service included in the classes concerned. The Alphabetical List is a list of goods and services set out in alphabetical order. It comprises about 10,000 indications referring to goods and 1,000 indications referring to services.

Is it 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 current (ninth) edition has been in force since January 1, 2007. The revision is carried out by a Committee of Experts set under the Nice Agreement. All States party to the Agreement are members of the Committee of Experts.

How is it presented?

The authentic versions of the ninth edition of the Nice Classification (English and French) are published in two parts as printed publications by WIPO in paper. Part I lists, in alphabetical order, all the goods in one list and all the services in another list (WIPO publication No. 500.1/9 - Price: 100 Swiss francs). Part II lists, in alphabetical order for each class, the goods or services belonging to that class (WIPO publication No. 500.2/9 - Price: 100 Swiss francs). Bilingual English/French and French/English versions are also available (WIPO publication No. 500/9 - Price: 100 Swiss francs). The Nice Classification is also available on diskette (format ASCII), on CD-ROM (see below) and on the Internet. 

CD-ROM

The ninth edition of the Nice Classification (in English and French) is also published on a CD-ROM called NIVILO:CLASS. Version 2.2 of this disk (WIPO publication No. CD-Nivilo - Price:  60 Swiss francs) also contains the authentic versions (English and French) of the current editions of the Vienna and Locarno Classifications (the sixth and ninth editions, respectively).

Where can I obtain it?