The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) separates trademark applications into 45 different “classes” of goods or services when categorizing federal trademark applications. The goal of these classes is to allow various types of businesses to register their trademarks in categories that are most closely connected to their primary business.
Class 11 includes appliances for lighting, heating, steam generating, cooking, refrigerating, drying, ventilating, water supply and sanitary purposes. In addition, Class 11 includes air conditioning apparatus, bedwarmers, hot water bottles, heated cushions, and blankets, and electric cooking utensils.
Examples of Trademarks in Class 11
WESTINGHOUSE (W) (electric air freshener dispenser), MR. COFFEE (Iced tea maker), THE VAPEVINE (electronic vaporizer), and MAGNAVOX are examples of Class 11 marks (air conditioners).
Note that you would not use Class 11 if you were registering:
- steam producing apparatus (parts of machines) (Class 7 – Machines) or
- Electrically heated clothing (Class 9 – Computers and Scientific Devices).
Related or Coordinated Classes
If you’re not sure whether or not to register under Class 11, you might want to look into the “coordinated” classes listed below:
- Class 6 – Common Metals,
- Class 7 – Machines,
- Class 9 – Computers and Scientific Devices,
- Class 19 – Building Materials,
- Class 20 – Furniture,
- Class 35 – Advertising and Business Services,
- Class 37 – Construction and Repair Services,
- Class 40 – Material Treatment Services,
- Class 42 – Science and Technology Services.
A coordinated class is one that is linked to another, usually because the USPTO has discovered that applicants who file in Class 11 also file in these other classes.
The trademark class system will have an impact on the registration fees you pay. You must pay a separate charge for each kind of goods or service that you register. You must pay two fees if you register for a trademark for posters (Class 16) and shirts (Class 25).
When you register a trademark, you must select the appropriate class. You must restart the application process if you list the incorrect class.
Your registrations are limited to classes that cover the goods or services you already offer (as evidenced by the specimens you submit) or plan to offer in the future (if you are registering on an intent-to-use basis). In order to refine a search of the USPTO’s trademark database, you may also require information regarding the class number.
Supplying Specimens for Class 11
If the mark is utilized in commerce, you must provide a sample of the mark as it appears to customers. The mark must be seen on or in connection with the products in commerce on the specimen. A trademark specimen should be a label, tag, or container for the goods, or an associated display. It is acceptable to provide a photocopy or other reproduction of a specimen of the mark as it is used on or in connection with the products.
A label is an admissible specimen in most circumstances where the trademark is affixed to the goods or containers for the items in Class 11 by means of labels. If shipping or mailing labels are placed to the items or to the containers holding the goods, and if valid trademark usage is established, they may be accepted. If the mark is just used as a trade name and not as a trademark, they are not acceptable. The use of the phrase purely as a return address is an example of this.
A legitimate form of trademark affixation is to stamp a trademark on the goods, on the container, or on tags or labels connected to the goods or containers. The trademark can be imprinted in the goods’ body, as with metal stamping; it can be applied with a rubber stamp, or it can be inked on with the help of a stencil or template. Photographs or facsimiles of the real stamping or stenciling are permitted as specimens when a trademark is utilized in this way.
The word “applied to the containers for the commodities” refers to any sort of commercial packaging that is customary for the specific goods as they move through trade. As a result, an admissible specimen is a display of the trademark on the regular commercial package for the specific Class 11 items.
Fuel pumps, for example, are seen as ordinary containers or “packing” for gasoline. If this is the regular method of use of a mark for the particular products, a specimen showing the use of the trademark on a vehicle in which the goods are marketed to the relevant purchasers may represent the use of the mark on a container for the goods.