When do I need to apply to register a trademark in retail services?

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Table of Contents

• Hypothetical
• Conclusion

Are you unsure of when to apply to register a trademark in retail services? Have you just started your own clothing label but do not know in which classes you should be registering? This is a common area of confusion and the following article will attempt to clarify when you need to apply to register a trademark in retail services.

Hypothetical

Let’s suppose you have just started a clothing manufacturing business. You may need to register a trademark in retail services for the clothing you manufacture in the factory. You, and other clothing manufacturers, will, more often than not, apply for retail services, as you plan on selling the apparel that you manufacture and believe this to be the next logical step in the process of trademark registration. It is important to remember that a trademark is to be used in the course of your particular business and selling these clothes is clearly an important part of any clothing manufacturer’s business.

So, as the manufacturer of goods, you can sell those goods and be covered by your trademark. This means that you do not necessarily need to apply for “retail services” when applying for trademark registration (class 35). This is important, as you will both save money and give your business adequate protection over its intellectual property. Typically, you would need to register under class 25 for clothing and apparel. This means that there is no need to register in any other classes if the only activity your business operates in is the making of clothes.

However, if one day you decided to open a clothing store where you would sell both yours and other people’s clothing, you would need to register under class 35 for retail services.

A claim for retail services is the bringing together, for the benefit of others, a variety of goods enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase the goods.

When registering a trademark with the intention of selling clothing that you have personally manufactured, class 25 will be sufficient. On the other hand, when intending to sell someone else’s clothing in a retail capacity, you will need the additional class 35 for retail services to get sufficient protection for the sale of those goods.

However, if you are not actually retailing the goods of others, a claim that included retail services under class 35 might not apply, and if this class were the only class for which you applied, it might mean that your own manufactured clothing will also not be protected.

Conclusion

If you are manufacturing clothing, or selling the clothes of others, and you are unsure about which classes will be sufficient on an application for trademark registration, contact LegalVision on 1300 544 755. Our team of trademark lawyers will be able to assist you during the entire process and will simplify what can sometimes be a complex process.