As from January 1st the new 11th edition of the Nice Classification came into force.
The Nice Classification, established by the Nice Agreement (1957), is an international classification of goods and services applied for the registration of marks. The Nice Classification is continuously revised by a Committee of Experts. A new version is published annually, and a new edition is published every five years.
During the 26th session in Geneva in late 2016 The Committee of Experts of the Nice Union adopted amendments to fifteen class headings and corresponding Explanatory Notes and the addition of 334 new terms. Class headings to classes 3, 6, 10, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 31 and 45 were revised, Explanatory Notes for classes 5, 11, 29, 30, 35, 42 and 44 were also modified. Many goods were transferred to other classes. For example, anti-bacterial soap, germicidal detergents, medicated hand wash and medicated shampoos were transferred from class 3 to class 5, which mainly deals with pharmaceuticals and other preparations for medical or veterinary purposes.
Some cutlery and utensils that were previously in class 8 (hand-operated implements), have now been moved to class 21 (household or kitchen utensils). Those are: barbecue forks and tongs, bread, ice, vegetable and meat tongs, butter curlers, carving forks, cherry pitters, apple corers, fish scoops, slices and muddlers, implements (hand operated-) for cracking lobsters, serving forks, ladles, spoons and tongs, zesters and others. Coconut milk as a beverage is no longer in class 32, it has been transferred to class 29 that contains all the milk beverages, including almond, oat, peanut and soya milk. Some goods stayed in old classes but their wordings were changed. Among them are broom handles of metal – class 8 and broom handles, not of metal – class 20 that have been changed to broom handles – class 21. Another example is hat and shoe ornaments of precious metal that have been amended as hat and shoe jewellery in class 14.
There are completely new items that we now can see in the alphabetical list of terms under the Nice Classification: eye-washes, not for medical purposes (cl.3), immunostimulants (cl.5), baby scales (Cl.9), biochips (cl.9), body composition monitors (cl.10), wine cellars, electric (cl.11), electric bicycles (cl.12), melodicas (cl.15), printed sheet music (cl.16), eyelash brushes (cl.21), karate and judo uniforms (cl.25), corn dogs (cl.29), agave syrup [natural sweetener] (cl.30) and many more. The additions of several new services took place as well. Such services as unlocking of mobile phones (cl.42), human tissue bank services (cl.44), conducting religious ceremonies, dog walking services, leasing of internet domain names and kimono dressing assistance (cl.45) have been added to the new 11th edition of the Nice Classification. The adopted revised edition of the Nice Classification is available on WIPO’s website at www.wipo.int where one can find the alphabetical list of all the terms, class headings and general remarks to all 45 classes of the Nice Classification.
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This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for legal advice.
