As we all know, a trademark is a sign that distinguishes the source of goods or services. Each registered trademark is designated for a certain product or service. For example, when it comes to Changhong, people will think of color TVs; when it comes to Maotai, people will think of wine; when it comes to Maxam, people will think of cosmetics and so on. It should be said that there is no trademark that exists independently of goods or services. Therefore, when applying for trademark registration, correctly describing the goods or services to be designated and their categories are the first problems that trademark applicants (agents) will encounter.

Many different departments need to classify goods for management, statistics and other work needs. For example, from the perspective of national economic management, commodities are usually divided into two categories: industrial products and agricultural products. Industrial products are further divided into heavy industrial products and light industrial products. Heavy industrial products can be further divided into metallurgical industrial products, mechanical industrial products, etc. The national trademark authority also needs to classify goods for the purpose of trademark registration and management. Trademark registration and management should be said to be a large and complex systematic project, and the classification of goods and services is a basic work of the Trademark Office. There are currently more than 700,000 registered trademarks in our country. If there is no scientific classification management system, it is difficult to search and search. Searching for a trademark is like finding a needle in a haystack, almost impossible.

It is precisely for the needs of trademark search, review, and management that certain goods with the same attributes are grouped together into one category, and all goods and services are divided into The 45 categories form the "Classification of Goods and Services for Trademark Registration" that we are going to describe here. For example, "industrial oils and greases, lubricants, supplies for absorbing, spraying and bonding dust, fuels (including gasoline for motors) and lighting agents, candles, wicks", etc. are grouped together to form one category (Category 4) ; Another example is to combine "surgical, medical, dental and veterinary instruments and instruments, prosthetic limbs, prosthetic eyes and teeth, orthopedic supplies, suture materials" to form another category (Category 10). The search and retrieval system of the Trademark Office is established according to the categories of goods and services; the "Trademark Announcement" is organized according to categories; applicants must apply for trademark registration according to categories; the trademark registration certificate issued by the Trademark Office to the registrant must also be marked. Goods or services and their categories.

Commodity classification is also the basic unit for applying for trademark registration procedures and paying fees. That is, to apply for registration of a trademark in a category, you need to go through one procedure and pay one basic fee. For example, if an applicant applies for a registered trademark on medical chemicals, proprietary Chinese medicines, Chinese herbal medicines, medicated wine, medical nutrition products, air purification preparations, veterinary drugs, pesticides, sanitary napkins, and dental fillings, although there are as many as ten designated products, Since these products all belong to the same category (5 categories), you only need to go through one procedure and pay one basic fee (i.e. one bid per category). Although the trademark applied for registration by another company only needs to be used on painting pens and paints, it needs to fill in two applications, apply separately in two categories, and pay two basic fees, because these two products belong to two categories respectively. There are two categories, namely, painting pens belong to category 16 and painting pigments belong to category 2.

In the past, the trademark authorities of each country formulated their own commodity classification tables based on their own national conditions and understanding of the products for use by trademark authorities and trademark registration applicants. The product classification list is not static. It will be gradually increased and revised with the enrichment of commodities and people's understanding of commodities. Since 1923, our country has formulated and published five commodity classification tables. By the 1950s, the world economy had achieved greater development and international exchanges had become more frequent. Some countries believe that each country's use of its own commodity classification table cannot adapt to international connections on trademark matters, causing trouble for trademark owners to register abroad, and is not conducive to the development of the trademark industry and economic development. The trademark authorities of these countries believe that there is a need for an internationally unified commodity classification table for trademark registration. In this case the Nice Agreement was born.

(2) The development and current situation of the international classification of goods and services for trademark registration

The Nice Agreement is an international convention participated by many countries. Its full name is "Goods and Services for Trademark Registration" Nice Agreement on International Classifications. The agreement was signed in Nice, a city in southern France, on June 15, 1957, and came into effect on April 8, 1961. The number of member states of the Nice Agreement has grown to 65. Our country joined the Nice Union on August 9, 1994. The purpose of the Nice Agreement is to establish a consistent international classification system for goods and services for trademark registration and ensure its implementation. At present, the international classification system includes 45 categories, including 34 categories of goods and 11 categories of services. The system contains more than 10,000 goods and services. The goods and services that applicants need to report are generally included. This classification is used not only by all Nice Union member states, but also by non-Nice Union member states. The difference is that members of the Nice Union can participate in the revision of the classification list, while non-member states have no right to participate. At present, more than 130 countries and regions in the world have adopted this classification table. my country has adopted international classification since November 1, 1988, which has greatly facilitated trademark applicants, further standardized the management of trademark authorities, and closer ties with international trademark affairs. Especially since my country joined the Nice Agreement in 1994, we have actively participated in the modification and improvement of the Nice Classification, and have added a number of goods with Chinese characteristics to the Nice Classification. The Nice Classification is generally revised every five years, firstly, to add new commodities, and secondly, to adjust the commodities already included in the classification according to new perspectives in order to make the commodities more intrinsically unified. The classification table we are currently using is the eighth edition that was implemented on January 1, 2002.

The Nice Classification consists of two parts, one is a classification of goods and services arranged by category, and the other is a classification of goods and services arranged in alphabetical order.

The classification table arranged by category arranges goods and services in the order of categories 1-45. Each category has a category number and title. The title of each category summarizes the characteristics and scope of the goods included in this category. Finally, it lists all the goods or services included in this category. Each product or service has a sequence number. Easy to find. In addition, each category has an annotation, which explains what products this category mainly includes, how this category is distinguished from related categories of products, and how to classify marginal products. This annotation is very helpful in classifying some easily confused products. . For example, the third category is titled "Bleaching agents and other materials for laundry use, preparations for cleaning, polishing, stain removal and grinding, soaps, spices, essential oils, cosmetics, perfumes, toothpastes and toothpowders." The annotation is: "This The category mainly includes bath products and cosmetics. In particular, it includes: personal deodorants; cosmetic hygiene products. In particular, it does not include: chemicals for cleaning chimneys (Category 1); stain removal products used in the production process (Category 1). ; Deodorants not for personal use (Class 5); Pumice stones or hand-grinding wheels (Class 8)

Another section is an alphabetical list of goods and services provided by the World Intellectual Property Organization. It has published a classification table of goods and services in English and French order. my country’s trademark authority has also compiled and printed a classification table of goods and services in Chinese pinyin order. Using this table is as convenient as looking up the categories of general goods in a dictionary. . For example, a company that produces televisions and video cameras wants to apply for trademark registration on these two products. According to the Chinese pinyin order, it can be easily found that both products belong to Category 9; another example is that a company Enterprises that produce food need to apply for trademark registration on milk and ice cream. With the help of this form, you can quickly find out that these two products belong to Class 29 (Milk) and Class 30 (Ice Cream) respectively.

(3) Principles for classifying goods and services

When the World Intellectual Property Organization classifies goods and services, it generally follows the following principles. When goods and services not on the classification table need to be classified, they can also be classified according to the following standards

1. Commodities

(1) In principle, finished products are classified according to their functions and uses. If the classification table does not stipulate the classification standards, the finished products are other similar products in the alphabetical classification table. Products are classified into one category, or they can be classified according to auxiliary classification standards, that is, according to the materials of these manufactured products or their operation methods;

(2) Multifunctional combination manufactured products (such as bells and bells) Combination products of radios and radios) can be divided into different categories corresponding to the functions or uses of each component of the product. If these standards are not specified in the category table, paragraph (1) can be used Standards shown in the article;

(3) Raw materials, unprocessed products or semi-finished products are in principle classified according to their constituent raw materials;

(4) Goods form a certain part of other goods , in principle, they are classified into the same category as other goods, but such similar goods cannot be used for other purposes under normal circumstances. All other situations are classified according to the above standards (1);

(5) When finished products or semi-finished products are classified according to their raw materials, if they are made of several different raw materials, in principle, they are classified according to their main raw materials Classify;

(6) Containers such as boxes and boxes used to hold goods should, in principle, be classified into the same category as the goods.

2. Services

(1) In principle, services are classified according to the industries divided by the service classification name and its annotations. Similar services in the alphabetical classification table can also be classified into one category;

(2) Services in the rental industry are, in principle, classified into the same category as services provided through rentals (such as rental telephones, which are classified in category 38);

(3) Providing advice, In principle, information or consulting services fall into the same category as the matters involved in providing services, such as transportation consulting (Category 39), business management consulting (Category 35), financial consulting (Category 36), beauty consulting (Category 44) ). The provision of advice, information or consultation by electronic means (e.g. telephone, computer) does not affect the classification of such services.

(4) Filling in the names of goods and services

The name of goods is one of the important contents of the entire trademark registration work, and it determines the scope of registered trademark protection. Therefore, when applying for trademark registration, the specific names of goods and services must be specified. Moreover, the goods or services reported on an application can only be limited to one category. Trade names should be specific, accurate, and standardized in order to clearly specify the scope of protection of the trademark. In the "Classification Table of Similar Goods and Services", each category has annotations, and the goods or services are divided into different groups. When applying for trademark registration, you cannot fill in the annotations and group names, such as 2907 milk and dairy products. 4301 provides catering and accommodation services. Generally speaking, when a product has a formal name in the commodity classification table, the standard name in the classification table should be used. Certain product names that are commonly used in people's daily lives are not allowed to be used when applying for trademark registration. For example, "household appliances" because it covers a large scope and involves at least five categories of goods in the commodity classification table. For example, washing machines and household electric grinders in Category 7; electric razors in Category 8; electric irons and electric hair curlers in Category 9; electric massagers in Category 10; refrigerators and electric hair dryers in Category 11 Water heater etc. Such cases include "plastic products", "leather products", etc.

Using the standardized names of goods and services in the "Table of Differentiation of Similar Goods and Services" will help speed up the trademark registration process and ensure that applicants obtain the exclusive rights to trademarks in a timely manner.