As indicated in the Class Heading and the Explanatory Note, Class 21 includes mainly containers and small hand-operated utensils and apparatus for household or kitchen use. This language covers a very broad range of products, some of them being very much related to certain products in Cl. 7, 8 and 11.
The criterion used to classify containers in Class 21 is function or purpose. Goods from pails and garbage cans to vases, bottles and indoor aquaria, can be found in Class 21 as household or kitchen containers, irrespective of material composition. Conversely, containers used for the transport and storage of goods are classified by material composition, in Cl. 6 if they are made of metal and in Cl. 20 if they are made of any other material. It should be noted that, according to General Remark (f) for Goods, containers that are specially adapted to the shape or form of the product they are intended to contain are, in principle, classified in the same class as that product. For example, containers for contact lenses are in Cl. 9 together with contact lenses, and cases for musical instruments are in Cl. 15.
Containers and certain utensils used as cookware or tableware, such as dishes, bowls, drinking glasses, mugs, tea services and pie servers, are in Class 21. Important exceptions are knives, forks and spoons, which belong to Cl. 8. It is worth mentioning that while serving utensils, such as sugar tongs and serving ladles, are in Class 21, tongs and ladles used as hand tools are classified in Cl. 8.
The household and kitchen utensils and apparatus in Class 21 are mostly hand-operated (i.e. non-electric), and any electric counterparts are in other classes. For example, apparatus for cleaning and polishing, and apparatus for kitchen use, such as for mincing, grinding, pressing or crushing are in Class 21 when they are non-electric and in Cl. 7 when they are electric. It should be noted, however, that most combs and brushes (these terms are followed by an asterisk in the Alphabetical List), including cosmetic brushes and toothbrushes, are in Class 21 regardless of whether they are electric or non-electric, while manicure, pedicure and other cosmetic implements, such as nail files, depilation appliances and razors, both electric and non-electric, are classified in Cl. 8.
Cooking apparatus in Class 21, such as kettles and pressure cookers, are non-electric. Cooking apparatus that has an integrated heat source, like electric kettles and electric pressure cookers, are in Cl. 11 together with other electrically heated cooking apparatus.
Finally, it is important to point out that Class 21 is one of the classes that includes unworked or semi-worked materials, in this case glass, with the exception of building glass which is in Cl. 19 as a building material. Class 21 also includes glassware, porcelain and earthenware that cannot be classified according to function or purpose. In the Nice Classification, finished goods are in principle classified according to function or purpose. Goods that cannot be classified in this way are classified according to other criteria, like the material of which the goods are made (see General Remark (a) for Goods) and, if they are made of porcelain, ceramic, earthenware, terra-cotta or glass, they belong to Class 21. Typical examples are busts, statuettes and works of art. Because the function or purpose of these goods cannot be identified in any of the Class Headings or Explanatory Notes of the Classification, they are classified according to material composition in the different "materials classes", for example, in Cl. 6, Cl. 14, Cl. 16, Cl. 19, Cl. 20 or 21 if they are made, respectively, of common metals, precious metals, papier mâché, marble, plaster or ceramic.