According to the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law and its Implementing Regulations, when applying for registration of a trademark, the applicant shall fill in the class and goods/services of the trademark for which he/she applies for registration according to the goods and services published in the "Classification of Similar Goods and Services" (hereinafter referred to as the Classification) based on the Nice Classification. Among them, Class 35 is one of the more but also a problem-prone class. We hereby introduce the relevant issues. 1. Characteristics of Class 35 services According to Class 35 of the Classification, the services in this class mainly relate to the business management, operation, organization and administration of commercial or industrial enterprises, as well as advertising, marketing and promotion services. However, the sale of goods is not considered a service in this class.
The main purpose of services in class 35 is to help others with their business operations or management, the business activities or business functions of other industrial and commercial enterprises, and to provide others with advertising services to the public through various means of communication. The most important feature of this class of services is that the relevant services are provided for others, rather than for the right holder's own business needs.
It should be noted that "sales promotion for others" in class35 refers to providing specific suggestions, planning, consulting and other services to help others increase the sales or demand of their goods or services in the market. It does not include selling one's own goods or services directly to consumers through retail or wholesale, nor does it include selling other people's goods or services to earn the difference in price, that is, pure sales of goods do not belong to “sales promotions for others” of class 35. If, in addition to the sale of goods, there are also services such as advertising, product display, and sales promotion etc., it belongs to this service.
In addition, the "retail or wholesale service for medicines and medical supplies" in class 35 refers to the collection and classification (except transportation) of medicines and medical supplies and other commodities that require national approval and qualification certificates for retail or wholesale, so that customers can see and buy them. This service is comprehensive convenience service provided for the above-mentioned special commodities to enter the circulation field, and does not include specific commodities such as medicines and medicinal preparations. 2. How to designate class 35 services in trademark registration applications Generally speaking, general commodity manufacturing companies that only manufacture or sell their own commodities as their business scope and do not provide advertising services, business management assistance and other services to other market entities or individuals do not need to apply for trademark registration for related services in Class 35.
Small shops and wholesale markets generally only sell other people's goods to earn a certain difference in price. Their business activities are actually sales of goods, not sales promotion for others, so they do not need to apply for trademark registration in Class 35. However, large shopping malls, supermarkets and other service places may also provide activities promotion, holiday promotion and other services in addition to selling goods. Such services can be registered in Class 35.
If the service is indeed to provide advertising, business management assistance, sales promotion, etc. to others, the applicant should choose standard service items according to Class 35 of the Classification, or choose other acceptable items announced by the Trademark Office. If there is no suitable item to choose from, it is necessary to make the service description as clear and specific as possible, and provide corresponding explanatory materials for the reference of the Trademark Office. However, since Class 35 services do not include pure sales of goods, description containing the words "retail" or "wholesale" is generally not accepted by the Trademark Office, except for subclass 3509 " retail or wholesale service for of medicines and medical supplies ". This may be different from many countries, and foreign applicants need to pay special attention to it. For services related to sales of goods, applicants can consider choosing "sales promotion for others", "marketing" and other standard items as replacements. 3. What to do when the designated services are not accepted Trademark registration applications submitted directly to the China Trademark Office are examined in two stages: formal examination and substantive examination. The examination of designated goods belongs to formal examination. If the designated goods are not standard, the Trademark Office will issue a notice of correction. The trademark applicant can make a reply by modifying the non-standard goods into standard ones or deleting the non-standard items. There is only one chance to make corrections. If the correction meets the requirements, the trademark application will be accepted and the case will enter the substantive examination stage, that is, to examine whether there are similar prior trademarks and whether the prohibition of registration is violated. If the correction does not meet the requirements, the trademark application will not be accepted and will lose its validity.
For international applications designating China through the Madrid system, formal examination and substantive examination are carried out simultaneously. If the designated goods are not standard or similar prior trademarks are found, the Trademark Office will directly issue a rejection notice, and the trademark applicant can submit a review to overcome the rejection reasons. In terms of non-standard goods description, it is necessary to explain to the Trademark Office that the items will be modified in accordance with the requirements of the Chinese classification, and a separate request for correction would be filed to WIPO. After WIPO approves the modification, the China Trademark Office will review the modified items and make a decision. 4. Summary Class 35 contains a large number of service items, which seems to encompass the services of many companies. However, in fact, due to the restriction on providing services to others, not all companies need to apply for trademarks in this class. They should carefully analyze the nature of their own services to avoid submitting unnecessary trademark applications.
Secondly, the regulations on whether to accept "sales of goods" services vary from country to country. If an applicant submits an application in multiple countries, he or she should make appropriate adjustments to the designated items to avoid corrections and rejections of the trademark application.
