Why "I sell clothes" isn't specific enough
Every trademark application in India is filed under one or more classes — categories that group goods and services by type, from the international Nice Classification system India follows: 45 classes total, 34 for goods, 11 for services.
Your trademark isn't registered "in general." It's registered for the classes you apply under — protection only extends to those goods or services. A clothing brand registered in Class 25 doesn't automatically have rights if someone uses a similar name on restaurant services in Class 43 — separate registrations, even under the same name.
This is why class selection isn't a formality to rush through. Get it wrong — too narrow, too broad, or simply the wrong class for what you actually do — and you can end up with a registration that doesn't cover the part of your business that actually needs protecting.
How classes are organized
A few classes come up constantly for small businesses and are worth knowing by name:
| Class | Covers |
|---|---|
| Class 25 | Clothing, footwear, headwear |
| Class 35 | Advertising, business management, retail and online sale services |
| Class 41 | Education, training, entertainment services |
| Class 42 | Scientific/technological services, software design, IT services |
| Class 43 | Restaurant, food, and accommodation services |
| Class 9 | Software, apps, downloadable content, electronic devices |
| Class 3 | Cosmetics, cleaning products |
| Class 30 | Tea, coffee, bakery items, packaged food staples |
This is a small sample — the full list has 45 classes, detailed in full in the appendix at the end of this guide.
A common point of confusion: many small businesses assume that because they manufacture a product, they only need the class for that product — and miss that Class 35 (which covers retail and the sale of goods) may also be relevant if they sell directly to consumers, including through an online store. Selling clothing might mean Class 25 and Class 35, not just one or the other, depending on how your business actually operates.
You can register in more than one class
There's no rule limiting you to a single class. If your business genuinely spans categories — say, you sell packaged snacks (Class 30) and also run a small café (Class 43) — you can file for both, either as one application covering multiple classes or as separate applications. (Government fees are charged per class, per application — see Chapter 4 for the fee structure.)
The goal isn't to register as many classes as possible "just in case." It's to register the classes that actually reflect what you do now, or have a genuine, specific plan to do soon — registering a class you have no real connection to can itself create problems if the registration is later challenged for non-use.
Worksheet: Identify Your Classes
Walk through this for each thing you sell or do. Don't worry about getting the class number exactly right on your first try — the goal here is just to get organized before you check the official list. Most small businesses end up with one to three relevant classes.
Prefer a guided tool instead? IPMitra's free Class Finder walks through the same question across all 45 classes and suggests matches automatically.
A note on this worksheet: it's not a substitute for checking the detailed, official Nice Classification list (see the Appendix), which is the actual basis an examiner will use.