Deciphering Class 25 of Nice Classification for trademarks:
Trademark Class 25 is one of 45 Nice Classifications used to classify products and/or services.
Class 25 for trademarks a brief description:
Class 25 of the Nice Classification includes clothes, footwear, and headwear for Humans, for example, jeans, coats, heels, etc. It includes sports clothing and footwear such as football shoes, ski gloves, and boots. In addition, this class includes the bibs, footmuffs, masquerade costumes, paper clothing, bibs, and pocket squares.
Class 25 for trademarks header:
Clothing, footwear, headwear.
Famous brands protected on class 25:
As a woman who loves fashion, it is one of my favorite classes. Some of the Class 25 famous trademark application Owners are:
Louis Vuitton
Gucci
Boss
Lacoste
Michael Kors
Dior
Chanel
Valentino
Nike
Adidas
From the emerging markets region, there are multiple fashion houses which became renowned internationally including; Elie Saab, Zuhair Mrad, Coded Nation, Nicolas Gebran, Rami Kadi.
Class 25 for trademarks does not include, in particular:
While Class 25 is straightforward, parts used in clothes, shoes, and hats either fall under Class 6 or Class 20, depending on whether these are made of metal or not. Zippers, ribbons, hatbands, hats, and shoe trimmings are in Class 26.
Specialty clothes whether for sports, fireproof clothes, and medical clothes do not fall under Class 25, such as:
Protective helmets, including for sports (TM Class 9)
Clothing for protection against fire (TM Class 9)
Clothing made for operating rooms (TM Class 10)
Orthopaedical footwear (TM Class 10)
Clothing and footwear that are essential for the practice of certain sports, for example, baseball gloves, boxing gloves, ice skates, skating boots with skates attached, etc. (TM Class 28)
Additionally, Class 25 in the Nice Classification doesn’t include carnival masks, doll clothes, and paper party hats; these are included in Class 28. While Class 25 includes bibs and footmuffs, bibs made of paper and electrically heated footmuffs are not included in this class, they are respectively in Class 16 and Class 11. Class 11 does not include only electrically heated footmuffs, but it includes all electrically heated clothing
Class 25 covers Human clothes only, animal clothes go under Class 18, and electrically heated clothing goes under Class 11.
People have to choose carefully if their product falls under Class 25. T-shirts are clothing products. However, a T-shirt printing company is a service. Another example is a business that sells clothing items but does not produce them is more likely to qualify as retail services under Trademark Class 35 instead of Class 25.
Trademark classes which are coordinated and similar to class 25:
When thinking of the Class 25 trademark classification, we should keep in mind that the class has multiple coordinated classes
Class 9: Scientific, research, navigation, surveying, photographic, cinematographic, audiovisual, optical, weighing, measuring, signaling, detecting, testing, inspecting, life-saving, and teaching apparatus and instruments; apparatus and instruments for conducting, switching, transforming, accumulating, regulating or controlling the distribution or use of electricity; apparatus and instruments for recording, transmitting, reproducing or processing sound, images or data; recorded and downloadable media, computer software, blank digital or analog recording and storage media; mechanisms for coin-operated apparatus; cash registers, calculating devices; computers and computer peripheral devices; diving suits, divers' masks, ear plugs for divers, nose clips for divers and swimmers, gloves for divers, breathing apparatus for underwater swimming; fire-extinguishing apparatus.
Class 10: Surgical, medical, dental, and veterinary apparatus and instruments; artificial limbs, eyes, and teeth; orthopedic articles; suture materials; therapeutic and assistive devices adapted for persons with disabilities; massage apparatus; apparatus, devices, and articles for nursing infants; sexual activity apparatus, devices and articles.
Class 14: Precious Metals and their alloys; jewelry, precious and semi-precious stones; horological and chronometric instruments.
Class 18: Leather and imitations of leather; animal skins and hides; luggage and carrying bags; umbrellas and parasols; walking sticks; whips, harnesses, and saddlery; collars, leashes, and clothing for animals.
Class 24: Textiles and substitutes for textiles; household linen; curtains of textile or plastic.
Class 28: Games, toys, and playthings; video game apparatus; gymnastic and sporting articles; decorations for Christmas trees.
Class 35: Advertising; Business management; Business Administration; Office functions.
Class 37: Construction services; installation and repair services; mining extraction, oil, and gas drilling.
Class 40: Treatment of materials; recycling of waste and trash; air purification and treatment of water; printing services; food and drink preservation.
Class 41: Education; providing training; entertainment; sporting and cultural activities.
Changes in the nice classification relating to trademark goods on Class 25
No changes were recently applied by either WIPO or the USPTO on Nice Class 25.
Trademark Class 25 and the Metaverse:
Class 25 contains the goods that were first used in the metaverse. All the brands have started selling their products on the metaverse, and people have started buying them so their avatars will wear them. Very few brands have hesitated to enter the metaverse. Not only very well-known luxury brands have entered this new world, but also local brands known widely, like Elie Saab, a Lebanese designer known worldwide. He was one of the first brands to open in the metaverse.
This new era will have an undeniable positive impact on fashion brands. Participating in these virtual fashion shows will give the brands wide exposure and help them communicate with their target audience.
In addition, all that experience has proven to be successful for now. In the partnership between Balenciaga and Fortnite, gamers bought Balenciaga clothes for their gaming avatars. Finally, yet importantly, entering the metaverse helps fashion brands protect the authenticity of luxury brands, and this is doable by accepting cryptocurrency payments through blockchain technology. Finally, luxury brands such as Hublot, Gucci, and Balenciaga have begun accepting cryptocurrencies as payment; this may help them attract customers interested in these currencies and have money invested in them. We are now also seeing marketplaces such as Farfetch join the movement. Furthermore, the use of virtual clothing can be quite beneficial during the numerous processes leading up to the actual physical creation of an outfit. These virtual things, for example, can be used for modeling, sampling, and marketing before their physical iterations are sent into production, drastically reducing the overall environmental effect of the fashion industry's lifecycle.
Understanding the main elements of TM Class 25:
Class 25 in Nice Classification is divided into the subsections below:
Trademark Class 25 - Subsection - 1 -
Headgear
Trademark Class 25 - Subsection - 2 -
Clothing
Trademark Class 25 - Subsection - 3 -
Footwear