Agreement concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks

General Information

Category

Sub category

Groups

What is it about?

The Nice Agreement is a classification of goods and services for the purpose of registering trademarks and service marks, detailing class headings along with explanatory notes and an alphabetical list of goods and services. The class headings describe goods by their nature, subject to very broad interpretation. There are 34 classes of goods and 11 classes of services. The explanatory notes offer increased details on the types of goods or services to be included in a class. The alphabetical list is a specific list of goods and services. There are approximately 10000 indicators referring to goods and 1000 referring to services. The Nice classifications are continually revised and updated, a task undertaken by the Committee of Experts, which was created by the Treaty. State parties to the Nice Agreement are required to apply the Nice classification when classifying marks. This registration can either be the principle classification or a secondary one, but it must occur. The usage of the Nice classification is also required for the international registration of marks under the “Madrid System”.

Why is it relevant?

The Nice Agreement simplifies the process of mark registration. Through this system it can be easily verified if a mark has already been subject to registration in a State party.

Additional Information

The Nice Agreement was revised on 14 July 1967 in Stockholm and on 13 May 1977 in Geneva. The Special Union created by this assembly is composed of an Assembly, the International Bureau of Intellectual Property and a Committee of Experts responsible for changes in international classification.

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