Which Trademark Class Should I Choose for E-Commerce?

The Nice Classification is used for trademark registration in e-commerce. For trademark registration, a single class is sometimes not enough. Alongside the goods/product class registration, an e-commerce registration class for services like online retail needs to be added. Goods sold in e-commerce typically fall in classes 1 to 34. Online retail and services typically fall in classes 35 to 45. As an example, the products sold can belong to classes like clothing or food, falling in classes 25 or 30. But the online retail service for these products is in class 35. For online retail, class 35 also needs to be included.

The sections below detail these classes and offer recommendations by example e-commerce business model.

Relevant Nice Classes for E-Commerce

• Class 9: Computer software and mobile applications. Programs developed for e-commerce sites and applications fall in this class. For example, a shopping app or virtual store software is registered in class 9.
• Class 35: Retail and marketing services. Retail sales through e-commerce sites (electronic product sales) and online store services are defined in class 35.
• Single-seller e-stores or multi-seller marketplaces (online marketplaces) also offer retail services.
• Class 36: Financial services. Online payment infrastructure, virtual POS, and payment guarantee services fall in class 36. Electronic money transfer or payment intermediary services that enable e-commerce transactions are protected in this class.
• Class 39: Shipping and logistics services. Storage, packaging, delivery, and distribution of products falls within e-commerce logistics in class 39. This class matters especially for fulfillment and transport services.
• Class 42: Information technology services. Services like cloud-based e-commerce platforms, software development, and web design are registered in class 42. SaaS e-commerce solutions and platform providers typically file in this class.

The right class combinations give the trademark thorough protection and reduce opposition and infringement risk later. Class selection is strategic. For example, a mark registered for retail services in class 35 cannot directly stop a competitor's similar mark in class 9 (electronic device). So in e-commerce, classes covering both the product itself and the retail service should be preferred. At the same time, the broader a mark's classes, the higher the chance of overlap with similar marks. Without a careful preliminary search, the opposition risk rises. You can request a trademark search from Sistem Patent's specialists.