"Stay classy, San Diego."

InPrecisely third Friday = precisely 300 words

USPTO is self-funding. The vast libraries and examiner corps churning through patent and trademark applications are paid for by fees paid by those applicants. Voluntarily paid government fees. Like tax on weed.

Examiners do their searching using classification systems as a starting point.

There are approximately 250,000 technical classification codes in the Cooperative Patent Classification that the USPTO uses along with the European Patent Office.

On the trademark side – classification is much simpler.

In the 1950’s, global diplomats partied in Nice, France to harmonize global trademark law over rose and socca.

All of commerce – from string to rocketry to ski goggles – was categorized into 45 classes.

45 classes: 34 classes of goods and 11 classes of services.

75 years later, still 45 classes.

Times have changed – the Nice classes have not.

Class 1 is chemicals.

Class 3 is cosmetics and cleaning preparations. (Goods never found on the same shelf.)

Class 13 is firearms.

Class 23 is yarns and threads.

Class 38 is telecommunications services.

Class 42 is computer and scientific services.

Each trademark application is actually an application to register the trademark into one of the 45 Nice classes.

If the applicant is using the mark in multiple classes – “DEAD AIM for pistols and for eyeliner” – the applicant is required to prosecute those trademark applications separately. One for DEAD AIM for pistols in Class 13, and one for DEAD AIM for eyeliner in class 3.

Each application for each class requires new application fees, and requires meeting all of the application requirements for each class. In a way, it’s organized, and the multiple fees help keep the USPTO afloat.

In reality, the class system is porous – nearly meaningless.

Exact same mark in the exact same class might not kill an application, while the exact same mark in another class might.