Trademark International Class: Class 35 (Advertising and Business Services)

All goods or services are categorized within International Classes (IC hereafter). Goods run from classes IC 1-34, while Services are in IC 35-45. Please see a complete chart here. Let's take a closer look at one of these trademark classes – class 35.

What is International Class 35 All About?

Each class has a short title heading that gives a snapshot of what that class is all about -- IC 35's short title is advertising and business services. Pretty vague, eh? The USPTO has 1476 accepted descriptions that fit into IC 35; check them out here.

The first part of IC 35’s description, advertising, is straightforward. If it’s advertising, marketing or promoting services that are being offered, then IC 35 is where it goes. Now there are going to be some exceptions, as with anything related to trademarks.
Tangible advertising goods, such as signs, flyers, brochures, are NOT going to be in IC 35 as those items are not technically a service though are definitely part of a service; tangible paper-based advertising goods are in IC 16. Training, coaching, educating, etc. about advertising, marketing or promotion is NOT going to be in IC 35 but rather in IC 41, which is the educational class.

The second part of IC 35’s description, business services, is not straightforward at all. Semantically, all services could be considered as business services, yes? No way says the trademark powers that be; at least no way if those services can fit within a different international classification.

So What Business Services are in International Class 35?

Ooh this is a tough nut to crack as there are definitely some discernible patterns within this class but there’s a whole lot of slap-dash in here too. Here’s a general breakdown:

• If your services consist, in part, of the word business, you’re likely in IC 35. This includes consulting, advising, administration, management, development, information, organization, research, planning, etc.

• Employment services are in this class, which includes hiring, recruiting, placement, staffing and career networking.

• Retail services selling ANY products under the sun, which means a brick and mortar store, online retail sites, mail order, catalog, wholesale, etc.

Obviously there’s a whole host of other services in IC 35. If you’re wondering about your services, feel free to email me.

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Copyrights & Trademarks: Do You Need Both?

Protecting the intellectual property aspects of your business is a worthwhile investment. However, it is difficult to know what form of intellectual property works for what facets of your business. Let's take the time to break all that down.

Copyrights:

Copyrights can be obtained for things of an artistic nature. This includes, of course, poetry, films, sculptures, music, fiction, etc. But can also include things that may not necessarily seem "artistic" in the general sense of the word. Copyrights can also be obtained for advertising copy, games, software programs and blueprints, to name just a few.

To protect text as it appears on advertising copy, speeches, pamphlets, brochures, online works, reports, etc. a Literary Works application would be filed.

To protect pictorial or graphic items such as technical drawings, posters, labels, games, etc. a Visual Art Works application would be filed.

Only a few items that could be protected by copyright are noted here so if you have other items in mind, please feel free to email me at Shannon@tmexpress.com and I can point you in the right direction.

Trademarks: A "registered trademark", or ®, refers to a name, slogan or logo that has been officially registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Registering a trademark is beneficial to a business because it publicly states that your trademark is registered with the USPTO and therefore, you have exclusive rights to that name within your industry.

Prior to investing your time, money & effort into a name, it is strongly advised that comprehensive research be conducted to ensure that the name you're interested in is truly available.

This entails searching the pending & registered Federal and State trademark files as well as the US National Common-Law files. Then, if clear, you can decide if you would like to file for a Federal or a State trademark.

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