Nice Classification

An updated version of the Tenth Edition of the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (‘the Nice Classification’), came into force on 1 January 2015.

The Nice Classification is used by countries who signed up to the Nice Agreement, as well as several other countries which chose to adopt the method of placing goods and services in separate classes. The changes include amendments to certain goods and services in some of the classes. For example, in class 9, ‘portable telephones’ are now called ‘cordless telephones’, ‘sex toys’ have been added to class 10 and although ‘printers’ remain in class 9, ‘3D printers’ have been moved to class 7. This is likely to be because 3D printers are seen as machines, which fall in class 7, rather than printers as such. The Nice classification searchable database can be found here.