Trademark Classes · Class 43
Class 43 covers restaurant, cafe, catering, and hotel and accommodation services. Here is what it includes, what it excludes, and how to word it to avoid an objection.
Class 43 is a services class covering services for providing food and drink, and temporary accommodation. It includes restaurants, cafes, bars, catering, and hotel and other accommodation services.
The theme is hospitality, serving food and drink and providing a place to stay. A key point: serving food is a Class 43 service, but the food and drink products themselves are goods in Class 29, 30, 32, or 33. This page is part of our full guide to all 45 trademark classes, and to how protection works across jurisdictions in our overview of trademark law and protection.
Work out whether your product or service genuinely sits in Class 43 before you file, because a wrong class protects the wrong thing.
Restaurants, cafes, and bars, catering businesses, hotels and accommodation providers, and food-service operators. If your service is serving food and drink or providing accommodation, Class 43 is very likely your class. Our trademark class search helps you check which classes fit before you file.
The most common Class 43 mistakes come from classifying by the wrong feature. These closely related items sit elsewhere:
Packaged food and drink are goods in Class 29, 30, 32, or 33. Class 43 is the service of serving them.
Arranging travel and transport is Class 39; providing accommodation is Class 43.
Selling food as a retailer is Class 35; serving it in a restaurant is Class 43.
The Registry expects specific, standardised descriptions, not vague terms. Here are examples of clear, acceptable Class 43 wording:
| Instead of (vague) | Use (standardised) |
|---|---|
| “Restaurant” | “Restaurant services” · “Cafe services” |
| “Catering” | “Catering services” · “Provision of food and drink” |
| “Hotel” | “Hotel services” · “Provision of temporary accommodation” |
Each entry is specific and standardised. These are illustrative examples of acceptable phrasing, not legal advice for your filing; your exact wording should be drawn from the current NICE Classification and tailored to what your business actually does. Wording is a common cause of objections whether you file in India, the United States, Argentina, or elsewhere. For filing across several countries at once, see our global registration guide.
Class 43 covers services for providing food and drink and temporary accommodation. It includes restaurants, cafes, bars, catering, and hotel and other accommodation services. The theme is hospitality. A key distinction is that serving food and drink is a Class 43 service, while the food and drink products themselves are goods in Class 29, 30, 32, or 33.
Restaurants, cafes, and bars, catering businesses, hotels and accommodation providers, and food-service operators. If your service is serving food and drink or providing temporary accommodation, Class 43 is likely your class. A food brand that also sells packaged products may need Class 43 plus the relevant food goods class.
Yes. Restaurant, cafe, bar, and catering services are classified in Class 43, as services for providing food and drink. If the restaurant also sells packaged food products under its brand, those products are goods in Class 29, 30, 32, or 33, so a food business with both may need Class 43 and a food goods class.
Class 43 covers serving food and drink and providing accommodation, hospitality services. Class 35 covers retail and business services. So running a restaurant is Class 43, but operating a shop that sells packaged food is Class 35, and the packaged food itself is a goods class. A hospitality business with a retail line may span all three.
Use specific, standardised terms such as restaurant services, catering services, or provision of temporary accommodation, rather than vague words like hospitality. Draw wording from the current NICE Classification and tailor it to your services to reduce objection risk.
Whether you are protecting your brand in one market or several, we identify the classes you need and handle registration worldwide, worded to avoid an avoidable objection.
