Choosing the right classes when registering a trademark

Choosing the right classes when registering a trademark is extremely important, as registering a trademark will be charged on the basis of how many classes you choose. This means that the more classes you choose, the more expensive your trademark registration will be. Ideally, you should try to group your business’ services into as fewer classes as possible without jeopardising the protection of your trademarks.

Hypothetical

Imagine you are a builder and you have created flyers to leave with your clients. These flyers do not need to be claimed separately, as they are a part of the normal course of trade for your business. In other words, you only claim a trademark over the particular logo or business name itself and not the individual uses of these marks that you create, such as in flyers or other marketing and promotional materials.

Or perhaps you are a lawyer looking to trademark your firm’s name and logo. As a lawyer, it would be wise to choose ‘Legal Services’ in class 45 when applying to register a trademark. You might have also have thought to apply to register a trademark for ‘Business Administration’ and ‘Office Functions’ in class 35, as you consider these things to be an integral part of your business. In the same vein, you might consider it reasonable to apply to register your trademarks under ‘Recruitment Services’ (also under class 35), because, from time to time, you take on new employees. You may have also selected class 38 for ‘Telecommunications Services’, since using your mobile and office phone as part of your day-to-day operations.

After looking over your application to register a trademark, you will notice you have selected 3 different classes, which means your application is becoming quite expensive. Instead of applying to register a trademark in every class that remotely relates to your business, speak with an IP lawyer about condensing the classes you choose when applying to register a trademark before you submit your application

Tip

If you’re unsure which classes to advertise in, think about where you would advertise if you were listed in a directory. Of course, the answer is legal services and not business administration, telecommunications or recruitment. These are merely internal business activities that can be grouped within the same class, which saves you money when you register a trademark

Conclusion

Choosing the right classes is extremely important, as you should aim to cover all of the goods and services in which your business trades. This will guarantee that if someone attempts to use one of your marks, they will be held accountable under any of the classes under which you were able to register a trademark. For further assistance, contact LegalVision on 1300 544 755, and speak with one of our team of experienced trademark lawyers today. They will provide you with guidance on which classes you should be considering when you apply to register a trademark.