Choosing the right trademark class (and why it decides your protection)

Classes are goods and services, not industries

Classes 1–34 cover goods, 35–45 cover services. A café selling packaged coffee needs Class 30 for the product and Class 43 for the service. Registering only one leaves the other side of your business unprotected.

The classes most Indian businesses need

• Class 35 — retail, e-commerce, advertising and business services.
• Class 42 — software, SaaS and IT services.
• Class 41 — education, training and events.
• Class 9 — apps, downloadable software and electronics.

When to file in multiple classes

File multi-class when you already sell across categories or will within a year. Government fees are charged per class per applicant, so speculative filings get expensive quickly. A clearance search first tells you whether the mark is even available in each class.