Trademark Classes Philippines: Choosing the Right Nice Class

Last materially reviewed: September 6, 2026

Direct Answer

Philippine trademark applications classify goods and services under the Nice Classification, which contains 45 classes: 34 for goods and 11 for services. IPOPHL charges its filing, Declaration of Actual Use and renewal fees per class, so class selection is a spending decision as much as a legal one. The class number alone protects nothing; the wording of your goods and services is what defines the scope.

Key Takeaways

• The Nice Classification has 34 goods classes and 11 service classes, 45 in total.
• New versions of the Nice Classification enter into force on 1 January each year, so the correct class list is a moving target.
• IPOPHL directs Philippine applicants to WIPO’s Nice Classification resource and provides classification tools inside eTMFile.
• Every class you add is paid for at filing, at the 3rd year DAU, at the 5th year DAU and again at renewal.
• Under-classifying to save fees is the expensive mistake, not the safe one: it leaves your real revenue lines unprotected.
• Different class numbers do not automatically mean two businesses can coexist; relatedness and confusion still matter.
• Confirm the class number for your goods or services in IPOPHL’s eTMFile tools before filing, never from a blog list.

Jump to: The 45 classes and worked examples · What a class costs · Governing law · Requirements element by element · Exceptions and boundaries · Scenarios · Documents to prepare · Step-by-step procedure · Realistic outcomes · Common mistakes · Class-selection checklist · FAQs

The Goods and Services Split, and How Real Philippine Businesses Map Onto It

WIPO, which administers the Nice Classification, states that “there are 34 classes of goods and 11 classes of services”, numbered 1 to 45. Classes 1 through 34 cover things you make or sell. Classes 35 through 45 cover things you do for other people. That single distinction resolves most classification confusion in practice.

The table below is a decision aid, not a class-number lookup. It shows how a typical Philippine business splits into separately classifiable revenue lines. Deliberately, it does not assign class numbers. Nice versions change every 1 January, and a class number copied from an article is exactly the kind of unverified figure that produces an office action. Take the split from this table, then confirm the actual class numbers in eTMFile’s classification tool and WIPO’s Nice publication before you file.

Business	Goods lines (fall in classes 1–34)	Service lines (fall in classes 35–45)	Classification decision
Milk tea chain	The beverages and any bottled or packaged product sold for consumption elsewhere	The cafe or restaurant service itself; franchising and business-management assistance to franchisees	Usually more than one class. A brand that only serves in-store has a different footprint from one that sells sealed bottles in supermarkets.
SaaS company	Downloadable software, if any is actually distributed	Software provided online as a service; related technical consultancy	Downloadable software and software-as-a-service are not the same classification decision. Classify what you actually deliver.
Online marketplace	Usually none, unless it sells own-brand products	The marketplace and retail-intermediary service; advertising for sellers; payment or logistics services if genuinely provided	“Technology company” is not a class. Each distinct service is assessed separately.
Apparel brand	The clothing, footwear and headgear items themselves	Retail store services, if the brand also operates its own shops	A brand that only wholesales may need fewer classes than one running its own retail chain.
Food manufacturer (e.g. sauces, snacks)	The food products, split by type; raw ingredients if sold separately	Distribution or retail services, if operated under the same mark	Food products themselves are spread across several goods classes by product type, so one “food” class is rarely enough.
BPO or consultancy	Usually none	The specific services rendered: business process outsourcing, accounting, IT support, staffing	Service businesses often need fewer classes than they expect, but they must describe services precisely rather than by industry label.
School or training provider	Printed or downloadable course materials, if sold	Education and training services	Selling course materials as a product is a separate decision from providing the training.
Cosmetics brand	The cosmetic products themselves	Salon or beauty-treatment services, if offered	Product and treatment service are distinct; many Philippine beauty brands do both.

What Each Additional Class Costs You

Class selection has a direct, repeating price. On IPOPHL’s schedule of trademark-related fees, read on 6 September 2026, these items are charged per class: the filing fee (PHP 1,200 small entity / PHP 2,592 big entity), the 3rd year DAU (PHP 900 / PHP 1,920), the 5th year DAU (PHP 1,100 / PHP 2,400) and renewal (PHP 3,100 / PHP 6,600). A colour or distinctiveness claim (PHP 280 / PHP 600) and a convention priority claim (PHP 860 / PHP 1,800) are also per class.

Added together, one extra class costs a small entity roughly PHP 6,200 in government fees across a ten-year cycle, before any professional fees. That is the number to hold in mind when someone suggests adding a class “just in case”. The full arithmetic is set out in trademark registration cost in the Philippines.

Governing Law and Authorities

Registration is what creates the right. Section 122 of Republic Act No. 8293 provides: “The rights in a mark shall be acquired through registration made validly in accordance with the provisions of this law.” A registration is granted for the goods and services you specified, which is why the specification is the operative text of the whole application.

Section 124.2 of the same Act requires a declaration of actual use with evidence within three years, on pain of refusal of the application or removal of the mark. Read together with a per-class fee structure, this is what makes speculative classes actively harmful: you pay for them, then you must prove use of them, and you cannot.

On classification itself, IPOPHL’s trademark pages link Philippine applicants directly to WIPO’s Nice Classification resource, and IPOPHL’s eTMFile requires applicants to choose goods and services classifications using the classification resources it provides.

What this guide could not verify today, and therefore does not state. The public full text of RA 8293 on lawphil truncates partway through Section 132, so the classification provision could not be reproduced verbatim from a primary source on 6 September 2026 and is not quoted or cited by section number here. WIPO’s public pages confirm the 34/11 split and that new versions take effect each 1 January but did not, on the pages readable today, identify the current edition number, so this article does not name an edition. Confirm the edition in force with IPOPHL or WIPO before filing.

The Classification Requirement, Element by Element

Element 1: the mark itself

Word, figurative, figurative with word, or three-dimensional. IPOPHL’s eTMFile asks you to select the type at the outset. The mark type does not change classification, but it does change what evidence of use will later look like.

Element 2: the class number

An administrative index that groups goods and services. It is necessary, it drives your fees, and it is not sufficient on its own.

Element 3: the specification of goods or services

This is the substance. “Clothing” and “bespoke barong tagalog made to order” can sit in the same class and produce very different examination outcomes and very different enforcement reach. Use accepted classification terms where they fit what you sell; invent wording only where nothing accepted describes it.

Element 4: consistency with actual use

Whatever you list must be something you can evidence within three years. Treat the specification as a promise you will have to keep in front of an examiner.

Element 5: payment

IPOPHL’s filing guidance notes that the “date of payment is also considered as the filing date”. Because the fee is calculated on class count, the classification decision is locked in at the moment you secure your filing date.

Exceptions and Boundaries

Different class does not mean no conflict

This is the most consequential misunderstanding. Goods or services are not treated as unrelated merely because they sit in different Nice classes. The question remains whether the goods or services are related and whether confusion is likely. Filing in a class nobody else occupies is not a defence and does not immunise you from opposition; see trademark opposition in the Philippines.

Multi-class applications

A single Philippine application can cover several classes, but the fees are cumulative per class rather than discounted. Multi-class filing is an administrative convenience, not a saving.

Small entity versus big entity

IPOPHL’s eTMFile includes a Declaration of Small Entity for applicants with assets of PHP 100 million or less. Entity status changes the price of every class you select, roughly doubling it for big entities.

Priority claims

A convention priority claim is charged per class, so a foreign applicant importing a broad multi-class home registration into the Philippines pays the priority fee repeatedly. Trim to what the Philippine market actually needs.

Non-use of a class

A class you registered but never used is exposed. The Section 124.2 declaration regime means an unused class cannot be honestly supported at the three-year mark, and the consequence runs to removal from the register.

Scenarios

These are illustrative hypotheticals, not real cases. Fee figures are from IPOPHL’s schedule as read on 6 September 2026.

Scenario 1: the under-classifier

A Cebu-based skincare brand files in a single goods class covering its creams, because a second class would have cost another PHP 1,200 at filing. Two years later it opens branded treatment clinics under the same name. The clinic service line is unregistered. A competitor files that service class first. The brand saved PHP 1,200 and lost the ability to register its own name for its fastest-growing line.

Scenario 2: the over-classifier

A Makati startup files across five classes covering software, retail, advertising, education and events, on the advice that broader is safer. Filing costs PHP 6,000 as a small entity. At year three it can evidence use for two classes only. It has paid four times over for classes it must now abandon, and its DAU exercise becomes an exposure review rather than a formality.

Scenario 3: the label-based classifier

A logistics company classifies itself as a “technology business” and files a single software-flavoured class. Its actual revenue is freight forwarding and warehousing services, which are classified differently. Examination raises the mismatch, an amendment is required, and the response deadline arrives with an extension fee attached (PHP 340 for a small entity, PHP 720 for a big entity, per IPOPHL’s schedule read 6 September 2026).

Scenario 4: the disciplined filer

A Davao food manufacturer lists exactly the two product lines it ships today and one service line it will launch within eighteen months. Three classes, PHP 3,600 at filing as a small entity. Every class is evidenced at year three. Nothing is abandoned, and the specification matches the business as it actually trades.

Documentation to Prepare

• A revenue breakdown by product and service line, in the words your invoices use.
• Your current price list, catalogue or menu.
• Screenshots or listings of what you presently sell online and offline.
• A written eighteen-to-thirty-six month launch plan for anything not yet trading, so speculative classes can be tested against it.
• Any existing foreign registration with its class list, if you are extending a brand into the Philippines.
• The asset figure supporting your small-entity declaration, since it changes the cost of every class.

Step-by-Step: Selecting Your Classes

1. Write down what you sell, line by line. Concrete products and services only, no slogans and no industry labels.
2. Sort each line into goods or services. Goods sit in classes 1–34, services in classes 35–45. This step alone resolves most confusion.
3. Apply the three-year test. For each line, ask whether you can evidence real use within three years of filing. If not, it is not a class, it is a wish.
4. Find the class number in IPOPHL’s tools. Use the classification resources in eTMFile and cross-check against WIPO’s Nice Classification, which IPOPHL links for Philippine applicants.
5. Draft the specification wording. Prefer accepted classification terms. Avoid vague catch-alls that invite an office action.
6. Search each class before committing. Conflicts are found class by class; see trademark search Philippines.
7. Price the final list. Multiply the per-class fees on IPOPHL’s schedule by your class count, across filing, both DAUs and renewal.
8. File and diarise. Then calendar the DAU dates per class, using the maintenance deadline guide.

Realistic Outcomes

A tight, accurate class list generally moves through examination with fewer objections, costs less to maintain and produces a registration whose scope matches the business. That is the realistic best case, and it is achievable by most applicants without heroics.

A mismatched class list produces one of two outcomes. Too narrow, and your growth lines are unprotected and available to competitors. Too broad, and you fund classes you cannot evidence, then lose them anyway. Neither outcome is dramatic on the day you file, which is precisely why classification errors are so common.

Classification does not decide everything. It does not settle whether your mark is registrable at all, and it does not replace a business-name registration; see DTI business name versus trademark and trademark registration in the Philippines.

Common Classification Mistakes

• Under-classifying to save fees. The most expensive mistake in this article. Saving one filing fee can cost you an entire revenue line, because the class you skipped is a class someone else can register.
• Padding classes “to protect everything”. The opposite error, and it is paid for four times per class over a decade.
• Classifying by industry label. “Tech”, “retail” and “lifestyle” are not classes.
• Copying a competitor’s class list. Their specification reflects their business and possibly their mistakes.
• Using a class number from an article or forum post. Nice versions change every 1 January. Verify in eTMFile.
• Vague specifications. They invite office actions, and office-action extensions carry their own fee.
• Assuming a different class removes conflict. Relatedness and likelihood of confusion still govern.
• Ignoring the difference between selling a product and providing a service. Most multi-class Philippine filings turn on exactly this line.

Practical Tool: Class-Selection Checklist

Work through this once per revenue line before you open eTMFile.

• What exactly do we sell or provide under this mark? (Write it as a customer would describe it.)
• Is it a thing we hand over, or a service we perform? (Goods 1–34, services 35–45.)
• Are we trading in it today? If not, will we be within three years, and can we prove it?
• What is the accepted classification wording closest to it in IPOPHL’s eTMFile tool?
• Which class number does IPOPHL’s tool return for that wording? (Record it; do not assume it.)
• Has a search been run in that class for conflicting marks?
• Does this class add cost we are willing to pay four times: filing, 3rd year DAU, 5th year DAU, renewal?
• Who inside the business owns the evidence of use for this class?
• If we dropped this class, which competitor could file it against us?
• Have we re-checked the class list on the day of filing, in case the Nice version changed on 1 January?

Frequently Asked Questions

How many trademark classes are there?

Forty-five: 34 goods classes and 11 service classes, per WIPO, which administers the Nice Classification.

Which Nice edition does IPOPHL use?

IPOPHL directs applicants to WIPO’s Nice Classification and provides classification tools within eTMFile. WIPO publishes new versions that enter into force on 1 January each year. This guide does not name a current edition because that could not be verified from a primary source on 6 September 2026; check with IPOPHL or WIPO before filing.

How many classes should I file in?

As many as cover what you genuinely sell now or will sell within three years, and no more. Each class is charged at filing, at both DAU stages and at renewal.

Can IPOPHL change my class?

An examiner reviews classification and specification wording. A mismatch typically leads to an office action requiring amendment, and responding late can attract an extension fee.

Can two businesses use the same name in different classes?

Sometimes, but not automatically. Placement in different classes does not by itself make goods or services unrelated, and likelihood of confusion remains the real test. See trademark infringement in the Philippines.

Does a logo need different classes from a word mark?

No. Classification follows the goods and services, not the form of the mark. See registering a logo as a trademark.

Related Cybercode Guides

• Trademark Registration Cost Philippines: total IPOPHL fees
• Trademark Renewal Philippines: DAU and renewal deadlines
• Trademark Registration Philippines
• How to Register a Trademark in the Philippines
• Trademark Search Philippines
• Trademark Registration Timeline Philippines
• DTI Business Name vs Trademark
• Trademark Opposition Philippines
• Trademark a Logo in the Philippines
• Trademark Infringement Philippines

Official Sources

• WIPO — Nice Classification (34 goods classes and 11 service classes; new versions in force each 1 January; the resource IPOPHL links for Philippine applicants)
• IPOPHL — How to Apply for Trademark Registration (eTMFile classification tools, mark types, payment and filing date)
• IPOPHL — Schedule of Fees: Trademark-Related Fees (per-class fee amounts, read 6 September 2026)
• IPOPHL — Trademark Maintenance (Declaration of Actual Use schedule)
• Republic Act No. 8293 — Intellectual Property Code (Sections 122 and 124.2 as read on lawphil)
• IPOPHL — Trademark Help and Support

Disclaimer

Important: This article provides general educational information about Philippine law, regulation, cybersecurity, technology, or business compliance. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws, agency procedures, technical standards, platform rules, and the facts of each situation may change the result. Verify current requirements through the cited official sources and seek qualified professional advice when your rights, deadlines, money, safety, or legal exposure may be affected.