What businesses need Class 035 for their trademark?
Trademarking is a bit more tedious than one might think, and there is a lot of room for error. Trademark Factory is dedicated to helping tackle trademarking as painlessly as possible, and it starts with understanding the more granular aspects of trademarking, like class 035.
When looking to trademark a business name, logo, slogan, or idea, you’ll need to think about the trajectory of your business and get a good grasp of where you think you might be a few months and years down the line, as well as what goods or services you might offer. It is essential to research which of the trademark classes most accurately represent any and all goods and services you plan to offer during the lifespan of your business. With over 45 classes of trademarks–34 for products and 11 for services–you mustn’t overlook the process of categorizing your trademark.
Class 035, for example, is 1 of the 11 trademark categories, explicitly covering advertising and business services. On the surface, this category is quite broad, so we’ve created a detailed video on all things Class 035 to give you more insight into whether this categorization is right for your business. If you offer a business or professional service, you’ll likely want to check out the details for Class 035.
Below, we break down Class 035 in-depth.
What is Class 035?
Class 035 pertains to Advertising and Business, and the description of services includes Advertising, Business Management, Business Administration, and Office Functions.
Principal services covered under Class 035 include:
- Advertising services provided to others
- This encompasses designing, publishing, and distributing advertising content and services provided through public relations and marketing firms. Yes, even product demons and advertising at trade shows.
- Retail and wholesale of your and others’ products
- This includes the business names of stores and online retail sites (think the Targets and Amazons of the world), but not the products sold.
- Consulting in the field of business management and organization
- Again, this is broad. Consulting can include management, of hotels, sports, and more
- Office functions and business administrations
- This involves anything from human resources management and recruiting websites to data processing, bookkeeping, and office equipment rental.
So who would the Class 035 trademark be relevant to?
There is a laundry list of services classified under Service Class 035. These include:
- Business investigations
- Advertising and Publicity
- Rental of billboards
- Employment Agencies
- Marketing Studies and Research
- Creative Marketing
- Retail sales
- Invoicing
- Modeling for advertising or sales promotion
- Organization of fashion shows for promotional purposes, trade fairs and exhibitions for advertising purposes,
- Radio advertising
- Telemarketing services
- Television Advertising
- Tax Filing Services
- Retail or wholesale services for pharmaceutical, veterinary, sanitary preparations, medical supplies, and beyond.
- Commercial Information Agencies who provide commercial information or advice to consumers
Such services listed above may be provided by retail stores, wholesale outlets, vending machines, mail order catalogs, or electronic media. If you fall under any of these categories, meaning if you offer–or plan to offer–any of these services within your business framework, we highly advise you to look up all correlating services for better reference. Likewise, if your business involves bringing together, for the benefit of others, a variety of goods through any of these mediums–excluding the transport thereof–you’ll likely want to apply for Class 035.
Still uncertain whether your business offerings fit the description? Ask yourself whether your business helps in the management of business affairs or the commercial functions of an industrial or commercial enterprise. Most services associated with advertising, carrying out, and managing commercial businesses are covered in Class 35, though it does not cover all possible types of consulting. In fact, consulting services are spread around several categories, based on the subject matter of such consulting.
It is important to note that advertising services covered under Service Class 035 only cover services provided to others. Therefore, what you do to promote your own services is not covered. Say you use videos to advertise your products and services in order to promote your brand, that doesn’t necessarily mean you are in Class 035. Only if you fall under the categories listed above will you apply for Class 035.
Applying for Class 035
You’ll always want to do a trademark search prior to applying, so be sure to check similar trademarks in Class 035 using the USPTO Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS).
To apply for Class 035, you’ll need to provide some specimens or samples of your trademark demonstrating that you indeed offer an advertising or business service that falls under this category. Samples include
- Advertising or promotional materials, including but not limited to pieces of direct mail, audio files, radio ads, photos of billboards
- Business cards that clearly state what services you offer
- A digital rendering or photo of your website for said services
A few specimens will also be rejected when applying to Class 035, include
- News releases
- Invoices
- Packing slips
- Business cards that are unclear as to what services are offered
Trademarking Services vs. Goods
To be clear, Class 035 is a service category, only covering advertising and business services you provide. Meaning, that if you want to trademark a product, you will also need to include the product’s trademark as well. Simply applying for Class 035 won’t suffice if you are trying to protect products under the trademark. This is where it becomes extra important to consider the services you plan to or already offer and the potential products you may provide in the future. This is a prevalent mistake that can easily be avoided by paying closer attention and spending time reading through the details of each class.
Be certain you are selecting the right class by asking yourself whether your offerings are goods or services. In certain cases this can be difficult to decipher because of blurred lines–for example, physical paper goods are covered under Class 16, yet print and online advertising services fall under Class 035. On that note, there are several coordinating product classes that you’ll want to browse through to see if they fit the description of what products you offer. This could be anything from clothing to computer software, or education and entertainment.
Remember that choosing too few trademark classes can lead to issues later down the line because you might realize you lack protection in areas where you need it. As a result, you might end up infringing on someone else’s trademark. On the other end of the spectrum, too many trademark classes can cause the examiner reviewing your application to get skeptical and reject your trademark application altogether, extending the process much longer than it needs to be. This could lead to being charged with infringement, due to not being able to trademark your goods and services in a timely fashion. Because Class 035 covers a broad range of business services, it is a very popular trademark class and is often included in trademark applications. When filing Class 035, be prepared to face competition–examiners will reject you if you don’t provide suitable specimens or offer accurate associated services.
Are you ready to protect your business? Whether it be your name, slogan, logo, phrases, services, etc., we’ve got you covered, and our process takes all the pressure off you, and into the trusted hands of our trademark experts.