Trademark Classes Explained for Delhi Businesses: Which Class Should You File In?

The single most common question after "what does it cost" is "which class do I file in?" — and it is the one where a wrong answer does the most damage. Under the Trade Marks Act, 1999, every trademark application is filed against one or more classes from the NICE classification, an international system that sorts everything a business could sell into 45 numbered boxes. File in the right class and your registration covers what you actually do. File in the wrong one and you own a certificate that protects nothing you sell, while the class you needed sits open for a competitor. This guide explains how the 45-class system works, how to choose, and walks through the classes that matter for the sectors we see most across Delhi — from a Chandni Chowk trader to a Nehru Place software startup.

How the 45-class system is built

The NICE classification splits into two halves. Classes 1 to 34 are goods — physical products, from chemicals (Class 1) to furniture (Class 20) to firearms (Class 13). Classes 35 to 45 are services — the eleven service classes covering everything from advertising and retail (Class 35) to education (Class 41) to legal services (Class 45). Every filing on Form TM-A names its class, and the government fee — ₹4,500 or ₹9,000 depending on applicant type — is charged per class, so the choice is a budget decision as much as a legal one. Before you read the sector notes below, it is worth running your exact goods and services through our free trademark class finder, which maps plain-English descriptions to the correct NICE numbers.

You do not register a brand. You register a brand for specific goods or services. The class is what makes the right concrete.

How to actually choose a class

The rule of thumb is simple: protect what you sell and how you sell it, not what you make behind the scenes. Ask two questions. First, what is the product or service the customer pays for? That is your primary class. Second, do you also sell it through your own retail or online channel, or offer a distinct service around it? That may be a second class. A common error is filing in the class of your raw material rather than your finished product — a bakery is Class 30 (its bread and cakes) and Class 43 (its café service), not Class 31 (raw agricultural grains). When in doubt, our search and watch team runs a class-by-class conflict check so you file where you are both correct and clear.

Delhi sector-by-sector: the classes that matter

Restaurants, cafés and cloud kitchens — Class 43 (and 30/29)

A restaurant's core class is Class 43 — "services for providing food and drink." But a Delhi F&B brand that also packages and sells its products — a bottled chutney, a packaged namkeen, a branded frozen paratha — needs the relevant goods class too: Class 30 (spices, sauces, snacks) or Class 29 (processed meats, dairy). The cloud-kitchen boom across Okhla and Dwarka makes this a live question; a delivery-only brand is still a Class 43 service. We cover the sector in depth on our restaurants and cloud kitchens page, and the Delhi food and QSR guide.

Apparel and garments — Class 25 (plus 35 for retail)

Clothing, footwear and headgear all sit in Class 25. Delhi's enormous garment trade — from the export houses around Okhla to the wholesale market in Gandhi Nagar — files here as the primary class, and adds Class 35 if the brand runs its own stores or e-commerce. Exporters have extra considerations, which we address on the garment and apparel exporters page and the Okhla garment exporters guide.

IT, software and SaaS — Class 42 and Class 9

Technology brands live in two classes. Class 42 covers "software as a service (SaaS)" and technology development. Class 9 covers downloadable software, apps and recorded programs as goods. A Nehru Place SaaS company or a Gurgaon product startup typically files both, because the platform is a Class 42 service and any downloadable app is a Class 9 good. Many founders file only 42 and leave the app exposed. Our IT and SaaS startups page and the Nehru Place IT guide walk through the split, and the NCR B2B SaaS page adds the enterprise angle.

Jewellery — Class 14

Class 14 covers precious metals, jewellery and horological instruments. Delhi's jewellery trade is concentrated in Karol Bagh, and a jeweller registering a house brand files here as the core class, adding Class 35 for retail operations. We cover the trade specifically on the Karol Bagh jewellery page and the Karol Bagh jewellers guide.

Coaching, edtech and training — Class 41

Education, coaching and training services fall in Class 41. Mukherjee Nagar and Kashmere Gate are Delhi's coaching heartland, and an institute or an edtech platform registers its name here. An edtech company that also sells downloadable course material or an app adds Class 9. See our coaching and edtech page for the sector's specifics.

Pharma and healthcare — Class 5

Class 5 covers pharmaceuticals, medical preparations and dietary supplements. This is one of the most crowded and scrutinised classes, because the Registrar and courts treat confusion between medicine names as a public-safety issue and apply section 11 strictly. A distributor's brand, a nutraceutical, or a clinic's own-label product files here. We handle the sector on the pharma distributors page, and healthcare chains on the healthcare chains page, with clinic-specific notes in the clinics and hospitals guide.

Electronics and auto parts — Class 9 and Class 12

Electronics traders around Nehru Place file in Class 9 (computers, mobile accessories, electrical apparatus), covered on our Nehru Place electronics page. Auto-parts traders — a huge Delhi trade around Kashmere Gate — file in Class 12 (vehicles and parts), and sometimes Class 9 for electricals; see the auto-parts traders page. Both are goods classes where accurate specification matters as much as the class number.

The multi-class strategy question

A single application can cover multiple classes, but each class still carries its own government fee — so multi-class filing saves paperwork, not money. The strategic question is which classes are genuinely worth the spend now versus later. Our usual advice to a growing Delhi business: file first in the class of your core product or service, add the retail class (Class 35) if you sell direct, and reserve adjacent classes for when the budget and the business justify them. You can model the total across any class count with the cost calculator, and our full cost guide explains how per-class fees stack up. For the broader filing picture, the Delhi 2026 registration guide ties class choice into the whole process.

The most common misclassification traps

• Filing for the ingredient, not the product. Register the finished good you sell, not the raw input.
• Filing only the goods class and missing Class 35. If you run your own store or website, the retail service in Class 35 is often as valuable as the product class.
• SaaS filed only in 42, leaving the app in 9 exposed. A downloadable app is a Class 9 good.
• Treating one class as "good enough" for a diversified brand. A brand that spans clothing, cosmetics and retail touches three classes, and a single filing protects only what its class covers.

These errors surface late — usually when an examination report or a third party forces the point — and by then the fix means refiling and paying again. A proper search across the correct classes at the outset is the cheapest insurance in the system.

The takeaway

The NICE classification's 45 classes — 34 for goods, 11 for services — are the frame that gives a trademark its shape. Choose by what your customer pays for and how you deliver it: restaurants in 43, apparel in 25, SaaS in 42 with the app in 9, jewellery in 14, coaching in 41, pharma in 5, and Class 35 wherever you sell direct. File precisely — every class you trade in, none you do not — because each class costs a separate government fee and a wrongly chosen class protects nothing. Start with the class finder to translate your business into class numbers, and if the answer is not obvious — as it rarely is for a diversified Delhi business — our Delhi team will map your goods and services to the right classes before you file.