Trademark Classes · Class 35
Class 35 covers advertising, business management, retail, and e-commerce services. It is the most-filed class, and the most misused. Here is whether it is your class, what it excludes, and how to word it to avoid an objection.
Class 35 is a services class, and its official scope centres on four things: advertising, business management, business administration, and office functions. In practice, that headline expands into a very broad range of business-facing services.
Put simply, Class 35 covers the services a business provides to help other businesses, or consumers, run, promote, manage, or sell. That includes advertising and marketing, business and management consultancy, administrative and office-support services, and, importantly, retail and e-commerce services, the service of bringing goods together and offering them for sale, whether in a shop or on an online marketplace.
This breadth is exactly why Class 35 is filed more than any other class. Almost every business that provides a commercial service, rather than manufacturing a physical product, touches Class 35 in some way. But that same breadth is what causes the mistakes, because “business services” feels like it covers everything, and it does not quite work that way. This page is part of our full guide to all 45 trademark classes.
Before you file, work out whether Class 35 is genuinely where your brand belongs, because filing in the wrong class gives you a registration that protects the wrong thing.
An advertising or marketing agency, a business or management consultancy, an HR or recruitment firm, a company running retail or e-commerce, a marketplace platform bringing sellers and buyers together, a franchisor providing business services to franchisees, or an accounting or business-support provider. If customers pay you to promote, manage, administer, or retail, Class 35 is very likely part of your answer.
This is the single most important decision point. If you manufacture or sell your own goods, the retail-services angle of Class 35 does not, by itself, protect the product. You need the goods class for the product itself. A clothing brand needs Class 25 for the clothes, and may add Class 35 if it also runs retail or e-commerce, but Class 25 is the core. Filing only Class 35 for a product business is a classic and costly error.
Many businesses genuinely need both: a product class for what they make, and Class 35 for their retail, e-commerce, or marketing activity. There is nothing wrong with filing in more than one class, in fact it is often necessary, though each class carries its own fee. Our trademark class search helps you check which classes fit before you file.
Getting this right saves you from filing in the wrong place. Class 35 specifically does not cover several things people often assume it does.
The most common mistake. If your business develops software, builds apps, or provides SaaS or IT services, that belongs in Class 42, even though you might also use Class 35 for the business or retail side. Filing a software company only in Class 35 leaves its core offering unprotected.
Running retail through a website is a Class 35 service, but the technical work of building and hosting the website itself is Class 42. Subtle but real.
Financial consulting, analysis, and management sit in Class 36, even though they feel like “business services”.
Class 35 covers the service of retailing or advertising goods, not the goods. If you advertise or retail clothing, the clothing is Class 25; Class 35 covers only your retail or advertising activity.
Wording is where Class 35 applications succeed or fail. The Registry expects specific, standardised descriptions, not vague catch-alls. Here are examples of clear, acceptable Class 35 wording:
| Instead of (vague) | Use (standardised) |
|---|---|
| “Business services” | “Business management consultancy” · “Business administration services” |
| “Marketing” | “Advertising and marketing services” · “Advertising services provided via the internet” |
| “Retail” / “selling” | “Retail services connected with the sale of [specify goods, e.g. footwear]” |
| “Online store” | “The bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods, enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods via an online marketplace” |
| “HR” / “hiring” | “Human resources and recruitment services” |
| “Trading” | “Import and export agency services” |
Two things to notice. Each entry is specific, it names the actual service, not just “business services”. And for retail, good practice is to specify what is being retailed, rather than claiming retail of everything, which can attract an objection. These are illustrative examples of acceptable phrasing, not legal advice for your filing; your exact wording should be drawn from the current classification and tailored to what your business actually does. For more on this, see our guide on registering your trademark in India.
A few errors recur again and again with this class, and all are avoidable. Filing only Class 35 when you actually make a product, leaving the product itself unprotected. Filing a software or SaaS business in Class 35 instead of Class 42. Using vague wording like “business services” or “general trading” that draws a vagueness objection. Claiming “retail services” for all goods without specifying the goods. And forgetting that a strong brand often needs both its goods class and Class 35, not one or the other. Each of these either narrows your protection or triggers an objection that delays your registration, and each is fixable simply by classifying and wording carefully at the filing stage.
Class 35 covers business-facing services: advertising and marketing, business management and consultancy, business administration and office functions, and retail and e-commerce services (the service of bringing goods together and offering them for sale). It is the most-filed trademark class because almost every service business falls within it. It does not cover the physical products being sold, which belong in their own goods classes, nor software development, which is Class 42.
Businesses that provide services to help others run, promote, manage, or sell: advertising and marketing agencies, business and management consultancies, HR and recruitment firms, retailers and e-commerce operators, online marketplaces, franchisors, and accounting or business-support providers. If you also make or sell your own products, you will usually need the relevant goods class in addition to Class 35.
No. Software development, apps, SaaS, and IT services belong in Class 42, not Class 35. This is one of the most common classification mistakes. A software business might still use Class 35 for its business, advertising, or retail activity, but its core software offering must be protected in Class 42. Filing a software company only in Class 35 leaves its main product unprotected.
Class 35 covers business services such as advertising, business management, and retail and e-commerce, essentially running, promoting, and selling. Class 42 covers technology and scientific services, including software development, SaaS, IT services, and the design and hosting of websites. The rule: retailing or advertising through a website is Class 35, while building, designing, and hosting the website or software is Class 42. Many technology businesses need both.
Usually not. Class 35 covers the service of retailing or advertising goods, not the goods themselves. If you sell clothing, the clothing belongs in Class 25, and you would add Class 35 only if you also run retail or e-commerce operations you want to protect separately. Filing only Class 35 for a product business leaves the actual product unprotected, so you generally need the relevant goods class as your core filing.
Use specific, standardised terminology rather than vague catch-alls. Instead of “business services”, specify the actual services, such as “advertising and marketing services”, “business management consultancy”, or “retail services connected with the sale of [specified goods]”. For retail entries, name what is being retailed rather than claiming retail of all goods, which can attract an objection. Draw your wording from the current NICE Classification and IP India’s tools, and tailor it to what your business genuinely does.
Whether Class 35 is your only class or one of several, we identify exactly what your brand needs and word each specification to avoid an avoidable objection.
