Trademark class assignment

The class of a trademark refers to a selection of 45 trademark classes where-under products can be registered. The number under which each class falls is referred to as the “class code”. A product or service does not necessarily fall under only one class and would in some instances have to be registered individually or additionally under each of the relevant classes.

Section 11 of the Trade Marks Act No. 194 of 1993 as amended by Companies Act No. 71 of 2008 prescribes that the registration of a trade mark has to be in respect of particular goods or services. It is therefore a statutory requirement that goods or services fall under one of the 45 registerable class codes in order to be registered and that the correct class is listed in the application when the application is lodged the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission.

The classes are divided into two divisions, viz, “goods” and “services”.

From the 45 classes, 34 refer to goods, these goods include for example Class 25, which includes clothing, headgear and footwear. The remaining 11 refer to services, Class 35 for instance refers to services like advertising, business management and business administration (among others). Goods therefor refer to corporeal objects and usually in a business the sale thereof, whereas services refer to the delivery of a service by a business.

The first class of registerable trademarks in relation to goods covers chemicals products, these products include a variety of chemical products ranging from chemical products in science and photography to certain chemical products preserving “foodstuffs” among a variety of additional chemical substances used in industry.

There is a close resemblance in what each class includes and excludes. For this reason, the determination of a relevant class can be baffling to an entity or individual that lacks expertise in the field of trademarks, the application of trademarks and the registration that emits should such application succeed.

A good example of where such a distinction might become confusing is Class 2. The class describes (among other substances) paints and dies, it covers “dye stuffs” for clothing but excludes cosmetic dyes. From the above, it is clear that what is included and what excluded is quite vague and that it takes assertive knowledge, attention and experience to allot a product or service to the relevant class in registration.

The compilation of classes is quite exhaustive and covers a wide range of deliverable goods and services that are candidates for the allocation and registration of trade marks.

Trademark attorney’s deal with this distinction on a daily basis, the classes are very familiar to these experts and the allocation of the relevant class is habitually practiced, it is therefore highly advisable to appoint a trademark attorney when commencing the staggering benefit of a trademark registration to prevent unsuccessful trademark application and to guarantee its success.

 

Trademark class assignment