When a business applies to register a trademark in Canada, identifying the trademark itself is only one part of the process. The applicant must also identify the goods and services with which the trademark is, or will be, associated.
Those goods and services must be organized according to the Nice Classification, an international system that divides products and services into numbered classes. The classes selected can affect filing fees, how the trademark owner’s commercial activities are described, and the administration of the registration over time.
What Is the Nice Classification?
The Nice Classification, formally known as the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks, is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The system contains 45 classes. Classes 1 through 34 cover goods, while Classes 35 through 45 cover services. Canada currently applies the 13th Edition of the Nice Classification, which CIPO began using on January 1, 2026. CIPO also maintains a Goods and Services Manual containing pre-approved descriptions classified according to the current system.
What Do the Class Numbers Represent?
Nice Classes group broadly related goods and services together. Clothing, footwear, and headwear, for example, generally fall within Class 25, while advertising and various business management services generally fall within Class 35.
Other classifications are less obvious. Class 45 includes legal services as well as certain security, personal, and social services, while some related business services fall within Class 35 and financial or insurance services within Class 36.
Classification therefore involves more than selecting an industry. The specific goods and services associated with the trademark must be identified.
One Trademark Can Cover Multiple Classes
Many businesses operate across several product or service categories, so a single Canadian trademark application can include multiple Nice Classes.
A technology company, for example, might provide downloadable software, operate an online software platform, and offer related business consulting. A consumer brand might sell clothing, bags, cosmetics, and retail services. These activities may fall within several different classes, even though they use the same brand.
The number of classes is therefore not the same as the number of trademarks. One trademark can cover multiple classes where the application properly identifies the relevant goods and services.
Classes Do Not Replace Goods and Services Descriptions
Choosing a class number alone is not enough. Applicants must provide an acceptable statement describing the goods or services associated with the trademark. CIPO’s Goods and Services Manual contains terms that have already been classified and pre-approved. Terms selected from the Manual will generally be accepted without requiring further specification, although CIPO may update the Manual.
This distinction matters because a single Nice Class can contain many different activities. The description identifies what the applicant is claiming, while the classification organizes those goods or services within the international system.
Why Do Nice Classes Affect Filing Costs?
CIPO charges application fees on a per-class basis. For applications submitted online in 2026, the prescribed fee is $491.06 for the first class of goods or services and $149.04 for each additional class included as of the filing date.
An application covering four classes would therefore attract the first-class fee plus three additional-class fees. The number of classes included can consequently affect the upfront government cost of registration.
Nice Classes Also Matter at Renewal
Class-based fees continue after registration. Canadian trademark registrations are generally renewed in 10-year periods. For an online renewal in 2026, CIPO lists a fee of $595.06 for the first class and $185.49 for each additional class.
A registration covering numerous classes can therefore involve higher long-term administrative costs than one covering a single category.
More Classes Do Not Necessarily Mean Better Protection
Selecting as many classes as possible does not necessarily create a stronger trademark registration. Nice Classes organize the goods and services claimed in an application. Adding classes can increase filing and renewal costs, while omitting commercially important goods or services may become relevant if the business later expands beyond the activities originally identified.
The classification process therefore requires consideration of both the business’s current operations and the particular goods and services for which registration is sought.
What Happens When a Business Expands?
Nice Classes can become particularly important as businesses grow. A software company might later add consulting, educational programs, merchandise, or financial technology services. Those activities could fall within classes that were not part of the original trademark application.
Trademark owners cannot necessarily assume that a new product or service automatically falls within an existing registration simply because the same trademark is used. CIPO provides a process for seeking to extend the statement of goods or services of an existing registration, with fees assessed by class.
Similar Activities May Fall Into Different Classes
Classification can become complicated where goods and services appear commercially related. Manufacturing a product, selling it, providing installation services, and offering related software may each raise different classification questions. The Nice system is based on internationally developed categories rather than how an individual company describes its industry.
WIPO therefore provides class headings, explanatory notes, and detailed listings to help determine where particular goods and services belong.
Nice Classes and Trademark Searching
Classification can also be relevant when reviewing existing trademark applications and registrations. Trademark searches may involve examining marks connected with similar goods or services and reviewing their classifications. However, Nice Classes are not rigid boundaries separating trademark rights.
Businesses operating in different classes are not automatically insulated from trademark disputes, just as trademarks in the same class are not automatically confusing. Trademark analysis may involve the marks themselves, the goods and services, the surrounding trade, and other circumstances.
Nice Classes are primarily an administrative classification system and should be distinguished from the broader legal analysis involved in comparing trademarks.
Classification and Trademark Portfolio Management
For businesses with multiple brands, products, or business lines, Nice Classification can become part of broader trademark portfolio management.
A company may hold one registration covering several classes or numerous registrations for word marks, logos, product names, and other brand assets. As operations change, businesses may review whether their registrations continue to reflect the goods and services they offer.
Corporate reorganizations, acquisitions, licensing arrangements, and expansion into new markets can also affect trademark portfolios. Understanding Nice Classes provides a useful starting point for determining what registrations cover and how they relate to a company’s commercial activities.
Baker & Company: Toronto Trademark Lawyers Assisting Canadian Businesses
Trademark classification can affect the scope, cost, filing strategy, and ongoing administration of a Canadian trademark application. For Toronto startups, entrepreneurs, established corporations, e-commerce businesses, technology companies, and other brand owners, identifying the appropriate goods, services, and Nice Classes can be an important part of developing a trademark portfolio.
The business and trademark lawyers at Baker & Company assist clients with Canadian trademark applications, Nice Classification issues, trademark searches, trademark registration, brand protection, trademark licensing, intellectual property agreements, trademark portfolio management, and corporate transactions involving intellectual property. Contact us online or call 416-777-0100 to discuss trademark and business law matters in Toronto, the GTA, and across Ontario and Canada.
