How to Select the Right Trademark Class in India (and Word the Specification So It Holds Up)

Riya runs a kurta label in Ahmedabad. Two years ago she filed her trademark in class 25, because she sells clothing. Then she launched matching potli bags and cushion covers, and found that another seller had filed her brand name in classes 18 and 24 six months earlier. She is now preparing an opposition instead of a launch.

Her mistake is a common one: treating a trademark class search in India as a form-filling step rather than a decision about what the brand will cover. This guide explains how the 45 classes work, how to word your goods and services so the Registry accepts them, where the boundaries catch people out, and what to file now versus later.

Quick answer

India classifies goods and services under the Nice Classification: 45 classes, 1 to 34 for goods and 35 to 45 for services. Since 1 January 2026 the version in force is NCL 13-2026. Good trademark class selection means filing in every class that covers what you sell now or have a real plan to sell, and describing those goods or services in specific, accepted terms, never "all goods in class X". The official fee is charged per class, per mark: on e-filing, ₹4,500 per class for individuals, startups and small enterprises and ₹9,000 per class for everyone else. A class number does not decide conflicts on its own, so search neighbouring classes too.

How trademark classes work in India

The Nice Classification is maintained by WIPO. Section 7 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 tells the Registrar to classify goods and services, as far as may be, under this international system, and makes the Registrar's decision on any question of class final. Rule 20 of the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 ties India to the current edition published by WIPO and requires the Registrar to publish a class-wise and alphabetical index, including goods and services of Indian origin. India formally joined the Nice Agreement in 2019.

The current edition is the 13th; its 2026 version took effect on 1 January 2026. WIPO revises the lists every year, so a class you looked up three years ago may have changed.

Take the 2026 changes. Spectacles, sunglasses and contact lenses moved from class 9 to class 10, while smartglasses stayed in class 9. Electrically heated clothing moved to class 25. Older registrations keep the classes they were filed in, and rule 105 lets a registered proprietor apply on Form TM-P to convert a specification to the amended classification.

Remember: the class number is a filing label. What you own is the list of goods and services under it, the specification.

One application or several: forms and fees

Every application is filed on Form TM-A. Section 18(2) lets one application cover several classes, with the fee payable for each. Rule 107 requires the classes in ascending order with the goods or services under each, and a successful multi-class application gets a single certificate.

The fee comes from the First Schedule to the Trade Marks Rules, 2017, and is charged for each class and each mark:

• Individual, startup or small enterprise: ₹4,500 per class on e-filing, ₹5,000 on paper.
• All other applicants: ₹9,000 per class on e-filing, ₹10,000 on paper.

Startups recognised under Startup India and small enterprises as defined in rule 2 should keep the supporting certificate ready.

The government fee is the same either way, so the real choice is about control. Under rule 42(3), if someone opposes one class of a multi-class application, the other classes do not proceed to registration until you file Form TM-M to divide it and pay a divisional fee. My practice is to file separately where classes carry different risks, and to combine them only when the mark is distinctive and the search is clean everywhere. The full filing sequence is in our step-by-step registration guide.

Writing the specification: where most applications go wrong

Rule 23(5) is the provision to know. If you apply for all the goods or services in a class, or a large variety of them, the Registrar may refuse to accept the application unless satisfied that the specification is justified by your use or intended use. Its proviso adds that the names of goods and services should, as far as may be, match the Registrar's published classification.

The Registry's draft Manual of Trade Marks Practice and Procedure, circulated for comments in August 2026, shows how examiners apply this. It is not final, but it is the clearest statement of practice:

• "All goods", "all services", "all other goods" and similar phrases are not accepted. You will be asked to delete them, and you cannot substitute new items in their place.
• Class headings are treated case by case. The headings of classes 42, 43 and 44 are acceptable. The first half of the class 45 heading ("personal and social services rendered by others...") is considered too vague. Claiming the whole class 9 heading may be treated as unrealistically broad, and the examiner can ask for an affidavit of intended use or a narrower list.
• Vague umbrella terms such as bare "machines" in class 7 draw objections. "Machines for agricultural purposes" does not.

Padding also costs you later. Under section 47, if a registered mark goes unused for particular goods or services for a continuous five years from the date it was actually entered on the register, counted up to three months before the challenge, any person aggrieved can apply to remove it for those goods or services. It can happen sooner if the mark was registered without a bona fide intention to use it for those goods and has not been used for them. A 40-item specification for a business that sells four things invites that attack.

So use the accepted wording from the Nice list or the Registry's index ("sauces [condiments]", "software as a service [SaaS]"), qualify vague terms, and claim what you sell plus what you have a documented plan to sell. Vague or wrongly classed items are a common trigger for an examination report, as our guide to trademark objections explains.

The class boundaries that catch people out

These are the pairs founders confuse most often. Every placement below is from NCL 13-2026.

Software: class 9 or class 42

Software the customer downloads or installs is a good in class 9 ("computer software applications, downloadable"). Software the customer uses online is a service in class 42 ("software as a service [SaaS]", "providing online non-downloadable computer software"). Class 42 now also lists "artificial intelligence as a service [AIaaS]". A SaaS company with a mobile app usually needs both classes.

E-commerce: class 35 is not for your own products

The Nice note to class 35 says that the sale of goods is not considered a service. A D2C brand selling its own kurtas on its own website needs class 25, not class 35. Class 35 covers bringing together a variety of goods for others, as a multi-brand store or "provision of an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of goods and services" does.

Food: classes 29 and 30 versus 43

Restaurant, café, catering and "take-away restaurant services" sit in class 43. Packaged foods are goods: sauces, chutneys, spices, ketchup and noodle-based prepared meals in class 30, while meat, fish, vegetable-based foods and, perhaps surprisingly, pickles sit in class 29. Online ordering services for take-out and delivery are class 35. A restaurant that starts bottling its chutney has moved into a new class.

Fashion: classes 25, 24 and 18

Clothing, footwear and headwear, including saris and leather belts, are class 25. Fabrics, bed linen, towels and textile handkerchiefs are class 24. Handbags, wallets and luggage are class 18, but a bag shaped for a laptop is class 9.

Beauty and wellness: class 3 versus class 5

Class 3 covers non-medicated cosmetics and toiletries. Medicated soaps, shampoos and lotions, herbal extracts for medical purposes and dietary supplements are class 5. Ayurvedic products are classed by purpose: a herbal face wash sold as a cosmetic is class 3, a medicinal oil class 5, and many brands need both.

Education and publishing: classes 41, 16 and 9

Coaching, tutoring, workshops, seminars and "providing online electronic publications, not downloadable" are class 41. Printed books and study material are class 16. Downloadable e-books are class 9.

Fintech: class 36 plus software

Electronic funds transfer, card payment processing, loans and mobile banking are class 36. The app itself is class 9 (the Nice list even has "downloadable e-wallets"), and an online platform is class 42.

Classes do not decide conflicts on their own

Section 11(1) refuses a mark that is identical or similar to an earlier mark for similar goods or services where confusion is likely. It does not mention classes. A restaurant in class 43 and a sauce brand in class 30 can conflict, and the draft manual notes that examiners may extend their search beyond your classes. Under section 11(2), a well-known mark can block a later mark even for dissimilar goods.

Sharing a class does not automatically mean a conflict either. In Nandhini Deluxe v. Karnataka Co-operative Milk Producers Federation Ltd. (Supreme Court of India, 2018), the federation had used NANDINI since 1985 for milk and milk products, registered in classes 29 and 30. A Bengaluru restaurant business had used NANDHINI since 1989 and applied to register it for foodstuffs such as meat, fish and preserved fruits in the same classes. The Court found the marks, seen as a whole, were not deceptively similar, and restored the registration for everything except milk and milk products, which the applicant had given up. It held that a proprietor "cannot enjoy monopoly over the entire class of goods", particularly for goods on which it does not use the mark.

The lesson cuts both ways: search beyond your own classes, and do not expect a wide specification to stop everyone in the class.

Class map for common Indian businesses

Treat this as a first map and check each item against the Nice list before filing.

Worked example: a Vadodara cloud kitchen selling sauces online

A founder runs a cloud kitchen in Vadodara under a hypothetical brand, ZORVI. Orders come through the delivery apps, and she supplies office lunches on contract. She also sells bottled green chutney and a peri-peri sauce on her website and on marketplaces, and has a supplier lined up to launch mango achaar within the year. Here is how I would choose her classes.

1. Class 43 for "restaurant services; take-away restaurant services; food and drink catering". This is the core business.
2. Class 30 for "sauces [condiments]; chutneys [condiments]; spices". The bottled range is the line most exposed to marketplace copycats.
3. Class 29 for "pickles". A supplier and a launch date are the kind of documented plan that supports a bona fide intention to use.
4. Not class 35. Selling her own sauces online is not a retail service. She would need class 35 only if she started taking orders for other kitchens.
5. Not class 9 or 32 for now. She has no app and no beverages, and claiming them would be padding.

If her business is a recognised startup or qualifies as a small enterprise, the official fee on e-filing is 3 × ₹4,500 = ₹13,500. Otherwise it is 3 × ₹9,000 = ₹27,000. Professional fees are separate. I would file three single-class applications, so that trouble in class 29 cannot delay the class 43 registration she needs most, after searching all three classes plus 32 and 35 for similar names.

Defensive filings and adding goods later

Founders often assume they can add products to a pending application. You cannot. Section 22 lets the Registrar permit amendments, but the proviso to rule 37 bars any amendment that substitutes a new specification of goods or services not included in the application as filed. Narrowing is allowed. Widening is not.

Rule 23(6) offers a narrow fix for misclassified goods: you can delete them or add the right class on Form TM-M with the extra fee, and if all your goods belong elsewhere the Registrar can permit a change of class. That moves goods you already claimed; it does not add new ones. A new product line needs a fresh application with its own filing date, so file before the launch announcement.

Defensive filings in classes you will never use are a weak investment: the same fee, and open to removal for non-use under section 47. A watch on the Trade Marks Journal usually does more, letting you oppose a conflicting filing in an adjacent class within the four-month window under rule 42.

A step-by-step routine before you file

1. List what you sell. Current products and services, what launches in the next 12 to 24 months, and how you sell them.
2. Map the classes. Run each item through our free Trademark Class Finder, which searches all 45 classes by what you sell, not by legal wording.
3. Confirm the wording. Check the accepted term in the Nice list or the Registry's index, and watch boundary items: pickles in 29, sunglasses in 10, SaaS in 42.
4. Search the register. Use the Registry's public search in each class and its neighbours. Our trademark search guide covers phonetic and common-law checks.
5. Choose the structure. Single-class or multi-class, and confirm your fee category.
6. Draft and trim. Write the specification class by class, then delete anything not tied to a real product or plan.
7. Keep your evidence. Save the business plan, supplier quotes or launch dates behind any goods you do not yet sell.

How MYCrave can help

MYCrave Consultancy & Services helps founders settle classes and specifications before the fee is paid:

• Class selection and specification drafting, with a search across your classes and their neighbours, and filing on Form TM-A;
• A class plan for your product roadmap, separating what to file now from what to file at launch;
• Watch and renewal tracking, so conflicting filings in adjacent classes are spotted while the opposition window is still open;
• Support for startups and small businesses, including checking which fee category you qualify for.

File for the business you are actually building

A good specification reads like an honest description of your business: what you sell today, and what you can show you are about to sell. Anything beyond that costs fees now and invites a non-use challenge later.

Spend an hour on the list before you spend a rupee on the filing. Riya's problem was not the class she chose. It was the two classes she never thought about.

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