Trademark|Single Class Vs Multi class application

Trademark law defines 45 classes under which the service & goods of a business fall. A person before applying for a trademark has to search under which class the goods/service of the business falls.

Goods and services for which you are filing trademark application have been categorized by different classes as per the International (Nice) Classification of Goods and Services into 45 Trademark Classes (1 to 34 cover goods, and 35 to 45 services). This classification system is used by Indian Trademark Registry to classify the trademarks.

Filing Trademark application is the first step to register trademark in India. But sometimes, trademark falls under the different classes and person wants to apply for all the classes in which the mark falls. Now, the question is whether we want to file different applications or is there any other way to file trademark registration in all classes by filing single application.

To resolve this mystery, let�s dig deep into the law literature on this. Trademark Act allows filing trademark application in following ways:

1. Ordinary Trademark application
2. Multiclass trademark application

Ordinary trademark application means that you can file your trademark under one class only whereas through multiclass application as the name suggests, you can file your trademark application under more than one class. But filing your trademark application in more than one class through multiclass application will not drastically reduce your cost.

Your trademark attorney or agents usually advise you to file different application to register under different classes, not because he wants to mint money but the real reason is that benefits associated with single class application outweigh the benefits of saving few bucks by filing multiclass trademark application.

The main drawback associate with the multiclass application is that if somebody files opposition even against one of the classes, other classes are also put at halt. In case you don�t succeed, then your trademark application will be rejected as whole. But, people often prefer to file multiclass application due to administrative reason. First of all, it is easier to track multiclass application than a single application. Moreover, it also save your time.

Unless you are 100% sure that there is no opposition against you trademark application, it is advisable to file single class application. You can always negotiate with your attorney to get special discount in case; you are filing trademark application under different classes.

Author: Dushyant Sharma

Hey there, I'm Dushyant Sharma. With the extensive knowledge I've gained in past 8 years, I have been creating content on various subjects such as banking, insurance, telecom, and all the important registration and licensing processes for various companies. I'm here to help everyone with my expertise in these areas through my articles.