How to choose the right trademark class: six founder examples
Most businesses need two classes, not one. Here’s how to tell which.
Written and reviewed by CS Prashant Kumar · Last reviewed 28 Oct 2026
Trademarks are filed under the Nice Classification: 34 classes for goods and 11 for services. Your protection covers only the classes and items you file in.
The two-class pattern
If you make a product and also sell it through your own store, you usually need the goods class plus class 35 for retail services.
Six examples
- Clothing label selling on its website: 25 and 35.
- Café that also sells packaged coffee: 43 and 30.
- SaaS product: 42 for the service, 9 for downloadable software.
- Skincare brand: 3, and 35 if you run your own store.
- Coaching institute with an app: 41 and 9.
- Payments startup: 36, with 9 and 42 for the technology.
Don’t over-file
Filing in classes you have no plan to use adds cost and invites non-use challenges later. File for what you sell today and what you will realistically sell soon.