The Nice Classification: how to choose the right classes for your trademark

When you apply for a trademark, it is not enough to show the name or the logo. You must also state for which goods and services you will use it. This list follows the Nice Classification and is perhaps the most important decision in the application: the trademark is protected only for the classes and goods you file.

What the Nice Classification is

The Nice Classification stems from the Nice Agreement of 1957 and is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It divides goods and services into 45 classes:

• classes 1–34 are for goods (products);
• classes 35–45 are for services.

It is used by trademark offices around the world, including DPPI in Albania and KIPA in Kosovo. You will find the legal summary in the legal library.

Some frequently used classes

• Class 3 – cosmetics and cleaning preparations.
• Class 5 – pharmaceutical and veterinary preparations, dietary supplements.
• Class 9 – scientific and electronic apparatus, as well as software and downloadable apps.
• Class 25 – clothing, footwear and headwear.
• Class 29 – meat, fish, poultry and processed foods.
• Class 30 – coffee, tea, cocoa, bread, confectionery and bakery products.
• Class 32 – beers and non-alcoholic beverages; class 33 – alcoholic beverages except beers.
• Class 35 – advertising, business management and retail services, including online.
• Class 39 – transport, packaging, storage and delivery of goods.
• Class 41 – education, training and entertainment.
• Class 42 – scientific and technological services, including software development and software as a service (SaaS).
• Class 43 – food and drink services: restaurants, cafés, hotels.
• Class 44 – medical and beauty services; class 45 – legal and security services.

Why the choice of classes matters so much

It sets the scope of protection

If you have registered the trademark only for clothing (class 25) and someone uses the same name for a restaurant (class 43), your protection usually does not cover that use, unless your trademark is well known. That is why the classes should reflect what you do today and what you realistically plan to do.

It determines conflicts with other trademarks

When examining an opposition, the office compares not only how similar the signs are, but also how similar the goods and services are. Two similar trademarks for completely unrelated goods can coexist; in the same or neighbouring classes, the likelihood of confusion increases.

It affects the cost

The cost of the application also depends on the number of classes you choose. In the trademark.al form you see the full cost before you submit the application.

Extra classes are not “free”

It may seem clever to choose as many classes as possible “just in case”. But apart from the cost, the law allows a trademark to be revoked if it has not been genuinely used for the registered goods and services for 5 years. Real protection comes from the classes you will use.

Practical examples

Restaurant

The name of the venue is protected mainly in class 43 (food and drink served for consumption). If you deliver to people's homes, delivery is a transport service in class 39. Class 35 makes sense if you expand with a franchise, online orders or the sale of packaged food; advertising the restaurant itself does not require it.

Café-bar

The venue's service is again in class 43. Live music, a DJ or parties are entertainment services in class 41. If you sell packaged coffee or pastries under the venue's name, they are protected as goods in class 30.

Online shop

The online sale of goods and marketplace platforms are services in class 35, with terms that show what you sell: clothing, electronics, cosmetics, food or furniture. The platform itself, as a software service, is protected in class 42, while delivery and packaging of orders fall in class 39. If you sell products under your own trademark, the products themselves must also be protected in their goods classes.

App or software

A downloadable phone app is a product in class 9. Software development and providing software online without download (SaaS, PaaS) are services in class 42. Many start-ups need both.

Official terms: not just the class number

An application does not simply say “class 25”. It lists the specific goods and services within the class, in terms the office can understand; unclear terms can lead to objections from the office and delays. On trademark.al, goods and services are not taken from free text: they are made up of the official terms of the WIPO 2026 classification, with the Albanian text for filing and the English reference.

How the AI class agent helps you

In the application form, steps 3 to 6 are built precisely for this:

1. Business and activities: describe in your own words what you make, sell or offer and press “Analyse” – or choose “I will choose the classes myself”.
2. Questions: a few questions, one at a time, make the protection precise; each explains why it is asked and what it adds, e.g. whether you deliver or sell online.
3. Proposed classes: the classes are divided into core, recommended and defensive, with the official terms for each.
4. Classes and cost: see the chosen classes and the cost before you continue.

You always check and change the proposals yourself. You will find the steps of the form explained in Applying for a trademark.

Five quick tips

• Start from what you sell today and add what you will realistically launch soon.
• Do not forget the services that go with the product: delivery, online sales, training.
• When you sell products under your own trademark, protect the goods too, not just the shop.
• Check for similar trademarks in the same or neighbouring classes before you apply.
• For businesses operating in Albania and Kosovo, use the same class logic in both applications.