Trademark Classes
4 min
Which Trademark Class Does E-Commerce Fall Into?
In e-commerce the class depends not on what you sell but on how you sell it. We map own-brand, reseller and marketplace models onto classes.
Expert content, legal guides, industry news — everything you need to know to protect your brand.
Trademark protection is not unlimited: it only covers the goods and services classes you select when filing. The Nice Classification divides goods and services into 45 classes, 1 to 34 for goods and 35 to 45 for services. The articles here set out the full list, explain which activity falls into which class, and show the mistakes people most often make when choosing.
The point most often misunderstood is that making a product and selling it are protected in different classes: covering the goods class does not cover class 35, which protects retail and store services for those goods. You will find which classes belong together for concrete business models such as software, e-commerce and restaurants, how many classes it is reasonable to register, and what a wrong class choice costs later. A class cannot be added to an application once it has been filed, so the decision has to be right from the outset.
Restaurants and cafés fall into class 43. But if you package your own products or grant franchises, the scope does not stop at one class.
In e-commerce the class depends not on what you sell but on how you sell it. We map own-brand, reseller and marketplace models onto classes.
Software has no single class: how you deliver the product decides it. We map downloadable software, SaaS, development services and marketplace models onto classes.
Class 35, the most heavily filed class, covers store and marketing services. We explain who needs it and the most common scope mistake businesses make.
Trademark protection only exists in the classes you select. Here is the full list of all 45 Nice classes, what each covers, and what changed in 2026.
Class selection carries the one decision in an application that cannot be undone. Here is the five-step method for mapping your business onto the right classes, and the scope mistakes we see most often.
If you couldn't find an answer in our blog posts, our trademark experts will be happy to provide personal consultation.